Personality and Identity

chapter 3

Personality and Identity Personality is all of the behavioural and mental characteristics that contribute to and define the uniqueness of an individual. Personality is shaped by both genetic and environmental influences and remains relatively stable over time. Identity is a social construct that involves a process of becoming as well as being. It is complex, has many parts, and is subject to many different interpretations.

chapter outline

learning objectives

Personality Personality and the Study of Organizational Behaviour Theories of Personality Person Fit Identity Social Identity and the Work Organization Conclusion

After completing this chapter, you should be able to 1. Describe the concepts of personality and identity; 2. Explain the relationships between personality and identity at the individual and organizational level; 3. Critically assess the effects of the organization on the individual’s personality and identity; 4. Critically assess the effects of the individual’s personality and identity on the organization; 5. Describe different behaviours resulting from an individual’s interaction with an organization.

key terms Complementary fit Five Factor Model Identity Interactional theory of personality Myers-Briggs Trait Indicator®

Person-job fit Person-organization fit Person [trait] theories of personality Personality Personality traits

Situational theories of personality Social identity theory Supplementary fit Vocational choice theory

This chapter was written by Peggy Wallace.

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part ii Individual Behaviour and the Organizational Context

Organizations, Work Sharing, and Employee Personality

I

n a study conducted by Cornell University, it was found that work sharing may not be suitable for all types of employees.1 Work sharing requires workers, such as those building cars on assembly lines or those filling orders for a large mail-order clothing company, to share equipment and technology in order to complete their required tasks. For example, four employees will use 10 machines to produce an inventory of shirts or skirts. Some machines are used by two or more employees at different times during the process. Work sharing differs from another popular workplace management approach called “fixed assignments,” in which each employee has exclusive use of a particular set of machines, and there is no sharing of technology. It also differs from a work-sharing scenario in which two people share or perform one job but at different times during the day or week. Dr. L.J. Thomas, a professor of manufacturing at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell, conducted experiments in a simulated workplace to assess the effectiveness of work sharing. Most work-sharing models assume that people work at a steady pace, regardless of the performance of other workers. These models also assume that every employee responds in the same way to a specific situation. The purpose of Dr. Thomas’s experiments was to measure how people differ in their approach to work and how work sharing may affect their motivation. This information could be used to build better work-sharing models. Better models should lead to better design of the workplace, which should lead to increased worker productivity. Results of the experiments showed that the flexibility that work sharing affords employees in completing their tasks makes for a more efficient and effective way to manage a workplace. Less idle time is associated with work sharing than with the fixed assignment model. Workers keep busy by deciding “on the fly” who should be using a machine at a given time. This eliminates the need for a worker to sit around waiting for a workmate to finish the next item. It was also found that employees didn’t want any of the other employees waiting for them, so they tended to work faster. A key factor contributing to a successful work-sharing environment is an understanding of the following: • • •

The type of employee that can produce the best results; How the work situation affects the motivation of the employees; The best ways to divide up the work.

The researchers found that the degree of effectiveness of work sharing can be linked to the individual personalities of the employees involved. The process is more effective when it involves employees who want to belong and who are interested in helping out and solving


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chapter three Personality and Identity [ 93] problems. The characteristics and roles of groups and teams in organizations are discussed in more detail in Chapter 9. Dr. Thomas concludes that his experiments provide clear evidence that manufacturing systems should be designed around the fact that each employee is different. People do respond to each other when provided the opportunity to do so. Management needs to know which people work best in specific situations and how different work systems change the motivation levels of employees. With this knowledge, companies can optimize the use of the talent and flexibility that people bring to a work situation.

In this chapter, we examine the roles that the personality and identity of employees play in organizational behaviours and how organizations seek out certain personality characteristics in potential employees. The experiments described above provide an example of how the personality of individual employees interacts with the organization to produce a result or outcome. Some behavioural outcomes benefit both the organization and the individual while other outcomes benefit one party to the detriment of the other. In Dr. Thomas’s experiments, the personalities of the employees contributed to increased effectiveness in performing the job (a desired outcome). We begin the chapter with an examination of personality and of the role it plays in various aspects of organizational behaviour. In the second part of the chapter, we examine the nature and role of identity.

Personality Linden Petrin, assistant dean of students and director of the career resource centre at Purdue University, once refused a job promotion because it didn’t fit her personality type. “It meant I would have had less contact with people, and I knew it wouldn’t work. I decide things with the heart, in contrast to a ‘thinking’ person, who decides with the head. It was the right decision for me.”2 Common experience tells us that no one else is just like us. We recognize that people have different styles of thinking, of relating to others, and of working. These differences reflect the unique personalities of individuals. This uniqueness affects our behaviours in an organization and also affects how the organization tries to optimize particular personality types for its own purposes. In the study of psychology, personality is the sum of all the behavioural and mental characteristics that contribute to the uniqueness of an individual. Allport and Odbert, who were early researchers in the area of personality, found approximately 18,000 words to describe the ways in which people are psychologically different from each other.3 These words are often referred to as trait words. Examples of trait words include shy, kind, conscientious, anxious, trustworthy, and outgoing. The existence of these traits allows an individual to think or act in a similar fashion when faced with a variety of different stimuli or situations. Personality traits,


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such as those noted above, are stable, even innate characteristics that provide general direction for an individual’s choices and behaviours.4 In other words, an individual makes choices and demonstrates behaviours that reflect his or her unique personality. When we describe someone as outgoing or shy, for example, we are describing one of the characteristics of his personality. Another way of thinking of personality traits is to consider traits as individual variations of temperament, cognition, and interaction style. Some people can appear very calm even in a particularly difficult situation, while others appear anxious. Some people like to interact in large group settings, while others prefer one-on-one interaction. It is the unique combination of these traits that contributes to individuals being “who they are.” The definition of personality that is introduced at the beginning of this chapter presents a challenge to the study of personality in the field of organizational behaviour. It refers to both behavioural and mental characteristics. Some organizational researchers suggest that the term personality can be used in two different ways. 5 One way of using personality is to think of it as a person’s social reputation as seen by others. According to this view, personality is public, relatively objective, and describable in terms of a common vocabulary, that is, in terms of trait words such as friendly, trustworthy, or kind.6 It is based on the observer’s experience with the target person’s past behaviour, and it may be usefully applied to projections of the person’s future performance in particular situations. Your friends and classmates (the “observers”) can describe your personality based on their past interactions and experiences with you both in and outside of the classroom. They then use these past experiences to describe you to others. For example, you helped a classmate complete a difficult course assignment even though you had other projects and assignments to complete at the same time. Your classmate may describe you as kind and helpful to someone not in your class, based on this specific experience of working with you to complete the course assignment. In future discussions, your classmates will describe you as kind and helpful. However, an individual’s personality also has an internal component that is very difficult for others to observe. Refer back to the story of Dr. Petrin and her decision to turn down a job offer. She made that decision based on her decision style. If she hadn’t told us that she thinks with her heart and not with her head, we wouldn’t necessarily know this about Dr. Petrin. We can see the outcome of her decision, which is not to accept the job. However, we can’t easily observe how she arrived at that decision. We must rely on Dr. Petrin to tell us how and why she arrived at the decision. We will explore the potential effects of internal and external personality traits in more detail in the next sections of the chapter. For now, it is important to recognize that the attitudes people bring to a job are as much a reflection of their personality as observable traits like helpfulness. Both internal and external personality traits can affect job performance and organizational behaviour even though it is difficult to observe, measure, and assess internal traits.


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Personality and the Study of Organizational Behaviour Dr. Petrin’s words suggest that an individual’s personality can play a role in determining which job a person chooses. Research in organizational behaviour supports this premise. Personality does play a role in organizational life.7 An individual’s personality plays a role in the occupation an individual pursues, the organization where the individual chooses to work, the specific job that an individual chooses, the behaviours demonstrated by the individual in the job and within the organization, and the individual’s satisfaction with the job. This happens because an individual will seek out situations that are compatible with her or his personality. If the choice results in a good “fit” between the individual and the work environment, then there is a strong possibility that the goodness of fit will manifest itself in high job performance, high job satisfaction, and little stress in the system.8 The opposite outcome can result when there isn’t a good fit. If Dr. Petrin had taken the job that wasn’t compatible with her decision-making style, she might become dissatisfied with the job and feel increased levels of stress, which, in turn, could negatively affect her job performance. Thus, goodness of fit is of obvious interest to organizations, where a primary focus is the efficiency and effectiveness of the workers, leading to a strong profitable performance. Before we look at the concept of fit in more detail, a brief overview of the major categories of personality theory is provided.

Theories of Personality It is impossible within the scope of this organizational behaviour textbook to cover all of the different theories of personality that can currently be found in psychology. Boreree identifies 24 individuals or groups of individuals who have made a contribution to theories of personalities.9 The list includes Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, B.F. Skinner, Abraham Maslow and Jean Piaget, among others. The student is referred to a psychology course or to the website listed below if an in-depth knowledge of personality theory is of interest. Our purpose here is to provide a basic overview of personality theory in order to help the student understand people’s behaviours in organizations. webview Personality Theories http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/perscontents.html

Theorists who study personality fall into one of two main schools. The division reflects an age-old controversy concerning whether individual predispositions help explain significant behaviour in organizations or whether impersonal situational forces are sufficient to explain and predict such behaviour.10 This difference is typically referred to as the nature–nurture debate. In other words, are people born with their personalities (nature) or do they de-


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velop their personalities over time in response to their circumstances (nurture)? Theorists who support the latter view believe that many external factors contribute to and shape an individual’s personality after birth. External factors such as the size of your family, your hometown, the schools you attended, and your friends can contribute to and shape your personality. Situational Theories of Personality

We defined personality at the beginning of this chapter as being comprised of personality traits that are stable over time. In fact, these traits may be innate, i.e., an individual is born with them. They contribute to making every individual “unique.” There is a group of personality theorists who believe that environmental factors are the key determinants of personality and thus behaviour. This group is known as situational theorists. A situational theorist believes that specific environments reinforce and influence behaviours, ultimately shaping an individual’s personality. A significant example of this theory is Pavlov’s experiments with the dog. Pavlov (a Russian psychologist) was interested in studying learning behaviours. He set up a laboratory experiment using dogs as his subjects and studied their responses to specific stimuli. For example, he periodically rang a bell and then provided hungry dogs with food. Normally, a dog only salivates when presented with food because salivation is an unconditioned reflex. That is, the dog doesn’t need to learn how to salivate; the dog is born with this ability. Over time, Pavlov found that the dog would salivate when the bell was rung even if it wasn’t given any food. This experiment demonstrated that a dog could learn a specific behaviour, that is, to salivate in response to a specific environmental condition such as the ringing bell. When we study personality, we can think of an organization as an example of a specific environment. People working in an organization can learn new behaviours or change their response to a particular situation as the result of the organization’s environment. The situational theorists, therefore, focus on situational or environmental factors, not on individual personality, in understanding organizational life.11 Researchers investigate the context of work in their efforts to understand the causes of job satisfaction, strong job performance, and other work related attitudes and behaviours. For them, historical, structural, economic, political, and sociological forces determine behaviour in the organization and suppress the effects of individual traits. If we accept the view of the situational theorists, we would expect to find all of the students enrolled in a course at one university demonstrating the same set of behaviours prior to writing the final exam. For example, the students might study all night, experience a loss of sleep due to stress, and arrive early for class on the day of the exam. Alternatively, the students might go to the pub the night before the exam and arrive at the classroom just before the exam is scheduled to start. The point is, if the situationalist view is correct, all of the students in this particular class should demonstrate the same set of behaviours in response


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to writing the final exam for this course. If, however, we actually observed the students prior to the exam, we would find that they exhibited many different behaviours. Some students would study all night while others would get nine hours of sleep. These differences suggest that something other than the environment is responsible for the observed behaviours in this particular situation. Person [trait] Theories of Personality

Theorists and researchers in this group claim that individual behavioural differences in a particular environment are the result of the existence of personal traits. These traits remain stable across a variety of situations and environments and cause individuals to act or respond differently even when experiencing similar situations. The researcher studying organizational behaviour from the person-trait perspective gives limited attention to the economic and other forces present in the specific environment. Rather, the researcher focuses on the personality traits of the individuals operating in that specific environment. The stability of the personality traits allows the researcher and organizational management to predict important phenomena in complex organizations, e.g., individual performance, managerial success, collaborative behaviour, member turnover, and attitudes towards work and the organization.12 The experiments conducted by Dr. Thomas provide a good example of the person (trait) theories of personality. Employees who exhibited a desire to belong to a group and who were interested in helping others worked very well in the work-sharing environment simulated in the lab. Employees who prefer to work on their own or don’t like a lot of interruptions when working could find this particular environment a difficult one in which to work. Thus, management will look for desirable traits in potential employees during the recruiting process. The desirable traits will depend upon the nature of the job. Interactional Theory

To this point, we have looked at two different types of personality theories: situational and person. The interactional approach to personality theories represents a compromise between these two conflicting theories. The result is a theory that proposes that environments (e.g., organizations) are a function of the type of people in them, that is, the people make the place. The term “interactional” is used to describe the processes and outcomes resulting from the interaction between the employees and the organization. People participate and interact with many different types of organizations during their lifetime. The interactional approach suggests that the organization is not totally separate, distinct, and unique from the people who comprise it and interact with it. When students attend a university or start a job, they and all other members of that university or organization don’t check their “themselves” at the door. The organization does not operate in a


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vacuum separate from the world outside of it. People have an effect on the organization, its culture, processes, and behaviours, and the organization has an effect on people’s behaviours and attitudes. Over time, this interaction between the employees and the organization contributes to shaping who the employees are, what the organization is, and the behaviours that occur within the organization.

Person Fit In earlier sections of this chapter, we referred to a “match” or fit between the individual and the organization. Fit refers to a potential employee’s qualifications, suitability for the job and attitudes about work and the organization. A good fit is one in which the potential employee and the organization are compatible. For example, the employee has the right qualifications, such as skills and training, for the job and the “right” attitudes about work and the organization. We are interested in the concept of fit because organizational behaviour research suggests that a good fit results in positive behaviours and outcomes that benefit both the employee and the organization. One of the most difficult decisions that any manager in an organization has to make relates to hiring the “right” people. It is very difficult, during an interview, to accurately and reliability assess a potential employee’s skills, abilities, work attitudes and personality characteristics. Yet, if the “right” person is not hired for the job, it costs the organization in terms of lost productivity, downtime while a new employee learns the job, and additional recruiting costs. The lack of a good fit between the individual and the organization can contribute to disruptive behaviours, poor employee morale, and high turnover. Organizations want to avoid these negative outcomes, if possible. There are different perspectives that can be used to examine the concept of fit. One perspective looks at the fit between the individual and some aspect of work. Three types of fit are identified in the organizational behaviour literature: person-job, which is the suitability of the person for a specific job; person-organization, which is the suitability of the person for a specific workplace organization; and person-workgroup, which is the suitability of an individual for a team or workgroup in the organization. The results of Dr. Thomas’s job-sharing experiments illustrate the person-job and person-workgroup perspectives of fit. Person-organization fit is sometimes referred to as person-environment fit. Person-job and person-organization fit are described in more detail later on in this chapter. Another perspective focuses on the concept of fit from the organization’s side. Two types of fit are described here: supplementary fit and complementary fit. We will address these two types of fit first then proceed to person-job and person-organization fit.


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Supplementary Fit

When an organization recruits a new employee, supplementary fit occurs when the potential employee has a group of characteristics that are similar to those of other employees already working in the organization. Such characteristics include specific skill sets, educational background, and work experience. Researchers in this area13 suggest that supplementary fit forms the basis for vocational or occupational choice. People prefer to work in organizations with others who share similar qualities and characteristics. Complementary Fit

When an organization seeks out a job applicant who has certain skills and characteristics that are not currently present in the organization, management is looking for complementary fit. That is, the newly recruited employee will fill a gap that currently exists. The gaps or deficiencies in the organization can be such things as missing skill sets in specific technology or sales. Employment recruiting has traditionally been based on this premise. That is, the work organization identifies existing deficiencies in skill sets, knowledge, work style, and other areas, and selects job candidates that can fill the identified gaps. Person-Job Fit

This is the traditional foundation for employment selection. It has evolved out of the second principle of “scientific management,” i.e., the scientific selection of machines, materials, and workers. A “good” fit between the person and the job occurs when a job applicant’s proficiencies (e.g., knowledge, skills, and abilities) correspond with the job requirements. Employers are interested in assessing this compatibility between the job applicant and the job because it provides them with a basis for standardizing employment practices across the organization. It also ensures that the recruiting processes are consistently applied when selecting qualified people to perform a job.14 Determining whether a potential job applicant will be a good fit is rather like fitting the pieces into a jigsaw puzzle. It requires the employer to define the job that needs to be filled and to seek the appropriate candidate to fill it. In order to do both, the employer must develop a detailed analysis of the job that explicitly identifies all of the requirements needed to perform the job tasks successfully. In the following excerpt from the “Recruitment and Selection Policy” of an American university, we see the key matters that are emphasized when recruiting using a person-job fit approach. The purpose of this policy is to hire the best qualified applicant for any position vacancy, promoting a fully efficient and consistent approach to meet the institution’s needs, its commitment to diversity and its obligations to Affirmative Action.


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[ 1 0 0 ] part ii Individual Behaviour and the Organizational Context

The department in which the vacancy exists must furnish an accurate job description and a current organizational chart to Human Resources. The vacancy posting or announcement must include, as a minimum, position title, primary duties, required knowledge, skills and abilities, pay band or salary range, full-time or part-time status, benefits eligibility and instructions for filing the application. No applicant will be hired without at least one interview. Questions selected for use in the interview must be directly job-related and should allow candidates to optimally demonstrate the required knowledge, skills and abilities requisite with the position.15 (Emphasis added.) The student should note that this policy does not include any reference to the job applicant’s personality. The recruitment decision is made on the basis of the applicant demonstrating, via the resume and the interview, that he or she can perform the job requirements to an appropriate and acceptable level of performance. The job requirements are typically based on the skills and knowledge needed to do the job. Consider the following recruitment advertisement for a manager’s position at McDonald’s.16 Position Type: Company Name: Location: Salary: Experience:

Full-Time Employee McDonald’s Franchises Springfield, IL; Williamsville, IL US $30K–US$40K 5–10 Years Experience

Company Information

McGraw Enterprises consists of eight McDonald’s locations in Springfield, Williamsville, and Litchfield. We are a growing company with unlimited room for advancement and have been a successful company for over 25 years. Three of our locations earn over $2 million plus in sales. We offer medical benefits, vacation pay, and an established bonus program. Our benefit package is competitive with today’s market. Job Description

As a Manager at McDonald’s, you are responsible for managing up to 25–35 employees at a given time and ensuring that all of McDonald’s performance standards are met. The successful candidate will have strong management and restaurant experience. This position will provide you with the opportunity to prove your skills and move up the ladder to a General Manager. College graduates with prior restaurant experience are encouraged to apply and move into our fast-track management training program. Primary Responsibilities

• • • • • •

In the position of Manager, you will be responsible for: Overseeing all of the basic restaurant systems in a store Providing team building and management training for all of your employees Providing the highest level of customer service to all customers at all times Effectively managing the key performance indicators related to labour, food costs and floor control Effectively managing time


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chapter three Personality and Identity [ 1 01] Job Qualifications

• • • • • • • •

The successful candidate must have: Prior restaurant experience A proven track record in management, specifically in managing a large number of subordinates Great communication skills Great leadership skills A proven ability to manage people and operations in a fast-paced environment A reliable work history A proven ability to successfully work within labor and food cost allotments

The student should note that there is no specific reference to the candidate’s personality in the description of the job responsibilities and qualifications. That is not to say that personality does not play a role in applicant selection. However, personality is a more subjective characteristic of a job applicant, often difficult to describe, measure, and assess. It is not always easy to develop a detailed job analysis even when the hiring manager is familiar with the job. The job analysis often describes the ideal candidate. In real life, the ideal candidate rarely, if ever, exists. Thus, the hiring manager may have to hire someone who lacks or appears weak in one of the required qualifications. For example, applicants for the McDonald’s manager position may have restaurant experience, but not in a fastpaced environment. Thus, the hiring manager will select the “best qualified” candidate even though that candidate may not have all of the stated requirements for the job. Although personality is not explicitly included in the job description, a potential employee’s personality can affect job performance. For example, an individual who is shy or introverted might have difficulties in the McDonald’s manager position because the job requires the manager to constantly interact and communicate with employees, suppliers, and customers. Hiring the right person using a detailed analysis of the required skills for the job is not without challenges in today’s environment. Person-job fit is underpinned by the assumption that the defined job is relatively stable over time. It assumes that the skills needed to do the job today will be the same skills as those needed in the future. It also presumes that the job itself will still be relevant and contribute to the organization’s success in the future. However, the changing nature of work undermines the concept of a stable job. Globalization, organizational mergers and acquisitions, growth in subcontracting, outsourcing, and part-time work, and the rapid changes and advances in technology all contribute to the destabilization of the job as it was defined by Taylor and others in the Scientific Management School. The decline of manufacturing in general and the greater emphasis on the “knowledge worker” contribute to the perceived de-stability of jobs. “Workers of the world, delight: New careers appear as old jobs fade” was the headline in the January 4, 2004 edition of the Toronto Star. The article looked at jobs that have disappeared (e.g., newspaper typesetter); jobs that are disappearing (e.g., bank teller and the supermarket cashier); and new jobs (e.g., artificial intelligence programer, fuel-cell engineer,


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hemp farmer, and midwife). The student should note that the job of midwife disappeared for many years but is now experiencing a revival in response to changes in health care and in people’s attitudes towards health care.17 The re-emergence of the midwife job illustrates some of the challenges in preparing a job analysis. The job requirements for this occupation were not stable over time because the job essentially disappeared for many years. The current job description differs from earlier versions due to changes in the health care environment and advances in medicine. In this excerpt from a recent job description for a grade F midwife, the applicant is expected to “have knowledge of all equipment used within the maternity unit. Examples of the equipment used include cardiotocograph, dynamap, gemini pumps, pca pumps, syringe drivers, entonox apparatus, specialist delivery beds, blood gas analyser, resuscitaire, ventouse machine, incubators, and neonatal monitoring equipment.”18 It is fair to assume that much of this medical equipment didn’t exist 30–40 years ago or has been advanced significantly since that time. The point is that, in many modern organizations, jobs are not static or stable. The best efforts in defining the job and recruiting the applicant with the “best fit” do not always mitigate against the fact that the job can lose its relevance to the organization in a very short time. Thus, the application of scientific management principles to recruiting may no longer be appropriate. Yet organizations are still interested in hiring people whose performance will enhance the overall operations. Another phenomenon that can occur over time is a shift in the types of people who apply for a particular job or pursue a particular occupation. In this case, the job itself does not disappear. For example, occupations traditionally held by males can become feminized over time, and jobs traditionally done by males can become occupied by females. Examples of the feminization of occupations include book editing, pharmacology, public relations, and real estate sales.19 In other places of work, for example elementary schools, the majority of classroom teachers are female but the administration positions such as principal, school superintendent, and school board director are frequently held by males. Person-Organization Fit

This perspective focuses on the compatibility of the job applicant’s needs, goals, and values with the organization’s norms, values, and reward systems. Efforts are made to identify compatible value systems and match applicants’ needs with the organizational reward systems.20 An individual’s goals can include such aims as working for a Fortune 500 company, becoming a vice president, or working for a non-profit organization in a developing country. An individual’s values are the moral principles or accepted standards that she or he endeavours to demonstrate on a regular basis, e.g., honesty, integrity, or compassion. An organization also has norms and values, which it typically communicates through such means as the vision and mission statements, published codes of conduct, and statements on ethics and compliance.


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chapter three Personality and Identity [ 1 03]

Deloitte & Touche LLP has a page on its website that explains the firm’s commitment to ethics and compliance. The page notes that Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (“DTT”) and its member firms “are committed to the highest levels of ethics, integrity, and quality. This is evidenced by ... [their] business practices and client service standards, their leadership behavior and shared values, and, most importantly, by the quality of the people they employ.”21 Recruiters will evaluate applicants’ needs, goals, and values during the recruitment process to determine if there is the potential for a good fit or match between the individual and the hiring organization. It is believed that the greater the correspondence between applicant needs and organizational reward systems (such as compensation), the greater the motivation to perform well for the organization. At the same time, it is believed that the greater the correspondence between the goals and values of the job applicant and organizational expectations and culture, the greater the job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In other words, a job applicant is expected to be more motivated and committed to the organization if there is alignment between personal and organizational goals, values, and expectations. It is believed that this alignment translates into enhanced performance, to the benefit of the organization. Alternatively, a lack of alignment can result in a disengaged employee, one who is not committed to the organization or who does not deliver a strong work performance. Person-organization fit has become the dominant perspective in the job choice literature.22 Some people believe that the employees who work for the organization “make the organization.” That is, the organization is really a reflection of the personalities, values, and goals of its employees.23 What happens over time is that people with similar personality types, values, and goals to those of people already working in the organization are attracted to it and are hired by it. Individuals who do not have this particular personality type either don’t apply for a job in this organization or leave after a period of time because they don’t “fit in.” This process of hiring people who are similar to those already working in the organization illustrates the concept of supplementary fit. While the organization can benefit from having employees with similar personality styles, values, and goals, it can also experience some negative effects, such as limited diversity in the organization, for example. Thus an employee who does not look or think like the majority may experience discrimination or exhibit a lack of self-esteem on the job, which ultimately affects behaviour and job performance. Are similarities of personalities within an organization a good thing? If so, for whom is it a good thing? We have seen that individuals seek out situations in which there is compatibility between their personality type and an organization. If the fit is right, the result for both the individual and the organization is positive. That is, the individual demonstrates job satisfaction, which can lead to higher levels of performance and, ultimately, to more profits for the organization. The individual also benefits from the organization’s rewards systems. However, if the majority of the individuals in the organization demonstrate the same personality traits a “restriction of range” can result. That is, everyone thinks and acts in the same way, which can result in negative outcomes for both the organization and the individual.


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There are many examples in the corporate world of lost market share, declining profits, and organizational failure. One of the contributing factors to the demise of these organizations was their failure to recognize that their customers, suppliers, and the competition were changing and that they needed to respond or react to those changes in order to remain competitive. If the management team in an organization is comprised of people who all think and act the same way all of the time, it becomes difficult to identify and respond to the changing environment. For example, Xerox ruled the photocopier market in the 1960s and 1970s. Management believed that this dominance of the market would continue into the future based on the company’s business success to date. Managers failed to notice the actions of their Japanese competitors, who were producing and selling inexpensive photocopiers to Xerox’s customers. Xerox lost significant market share and was forced to restructure the organization and change how management thought about customers and the competition. The Xerox example illustrates how success can promote resistance to change and result in the wrong or no response to a changing environment. This lack of action is commonly expressed in such phrases as “it worked before” or “we have always done it this way.” It also illustrates how a limit in a range or lack of diversity in thinking can lead to reduced profitability, missed opportunities, and lost market share. In contrast to the Xerox example, Microsoft’s Bill Gates “always looks dishevelled because he is paranoid that someone in a garage somewhere will come up with an alternative to Windows. Corporate paranoia keeps the organization on its toes.”24 Microsoft will recruit employees with different personalities and different styles of thinking, so the organization does not fall into a trap of continuing to work based on past success. Employees will be encouraged to ask lots of questions and challenge existing processes. In her book Men and Women of the Corporation, Rosabeth Kanter noted that managers at Indsco “had to look the part.”25 While employees were not identical in appearance, Kanter saw very strong similarities, and these similarities were not limited to physical appearance. Why? Management looked for new recruits “who conform to a prescribed pattern of behaviour.”26At Indsco, the new recruits were white and male. We can see that a hiring approach focused on hiring employees that look, think, and act in a similar manner can perpetuate stereotypes and discrimination within the organization as well as result in negative financial outcomes. Person-Organization Fit Theories and Tests

In the previous section, we discussed the concept of person-organization fit. We saw that potential employees are drawn to a particular organization because their values and goals are aligned and because they feel satisfied in their job. Organizations look for new employees whose goals and values are aligned with those of the organization because they believe that these individuals will be motivated to do a good job and committed to the organization’s


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goals. Unfortunately, as we saw in some of the examples, this recruiting approach can result in negative outcomes for both the individual (e.g., discrimination) and the organization (e.g., loss of market share). Theories of personality can be used to answer questions about an individual’s personal characteristics and how these characteristics are organized or structured. In this section, we look at some of the more commonly used theories and personality tests, and discuss how they can be used to explain individual and organizational behaviour. Five Factor Model

The Five Factor Model is an organizing framework for the study of personality types. The five factors in the model represent five basic dimensions of personality: 1. Extraversion—the tendency to be outgoing, assertive, active and excitement seeking 2. Agreeableness (likeability)—the degree to which an individual is kind, gentle, trusting and trustworthy, and warm 3. Conscientiousness (conformity, dependability)—achievement and dependability 4. Emotional Stability (neuroticism)—is also known as emotional adjustment and is the opposite of neuroticism, which is the tendency to be anxious, fearful, depressed and moody. Emotional stability is believed to lead to life satisfaction and freedom from depression and other mental ailments. 5. Openness to experience (intellect, culture)—manifests itself in creative, imaginative, perceptive, and thoughtful behaviours. This trait has displayed appreciable correlations with intelligence. The student should note that the names of the factors do not describe a particular type of personality. Rather, each dimension represents a “bucket” of specific personality traits that typically occur together. For example, the factor “extraversion” represents a specific set of traits that can range from extraversion to introversion. Most people typically fall somewhere along the range, not at the extreme ends. The Five Factor Model dates back to the late 1930s. Derived using a large body of quantitative studies, it was initially developed for academic and clinical counselling purposes. It is now widely used by organizations for such purposes as hiring individuals and assessing their leadership style. The model is quite robust; it has produced similar results when used with individuals from different cultures and different languages. Because of the demonstrated robustness of the model across cultures, it has been widely accepted among personality researchers.27


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[ 1 0 6 ] part ii Individual Behaviour and the Organizational Context

webview Five Factor Model http://www.personality-project.org/ http://www.centacs.com/quickstart.htm

The five factors that make up the model can be measured using a variety of test instruments. The NEO Personality Inventory–Revised, consisting of 240 items is the most widely used and extensively validated measure of the Five Factor Model.28 NEO is the acronym for three of the five factors: Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience. The test uses combinations of words that describe personality traits, such as calm/worrying, disciplined/spontaneous, and outgoing/reserved. The test instrument does not include judgmental terms, such as smart/dumb, good/bad, or sane/crazy. None of the specific traits are considered undesirable, and individual scores on a personality test should never be interpreted as negative, bad, or undesirable. We saw that individuals are attracted to organizations that are compatible with their personalities, goals and values. What we need to consider, then, is whether there is any relationship between the individual’s personality traits and job performance. Rust reviewed the results of two meta-analyses that examined the relationship between job performance and personality.29 A meta-analysis involves combining the research results from a large number of studies on a particular topic in an effort to either validate or disprove a particular theory. In both studies, “Conscientiousness” was found to be the only consistent predictor of job performance.30 The other four factors provided some predictive power as to job performance but only for specific criteria or in selected jobs.31 Yet organizations continue to administer the test to potential employees in an effort to determine if there is a good fit for the organization. Some organizations ask potential employees to complete the NEO Personality Inventory or other personality test as a condition of employment. The organization uses the test results together with the individual’s resume, school transcripts, interview results, and references to make an assessment as to whether the individual is a good fit. That is, does the individual have the skills, knowledge and behavioural attributes that will lead to a strong work performance? There is a cost to administering these tests; therefore, the tests may be used only when hiring senior personnel such as a team leader or vice president. If the organization does not use a personality test, the hiring manager may rely on impressions gained during an interview. The question is whether recruiters can assess an individual’s personality traits during an interview. Interviews are one of the most common methods of recruiting individuals. If certain personality traits are predictive of job performance, it is important that the interviewer identifies and assesses those traits. A research study conducted by Barrick, Patton, and Houghland32 was designed to investigate whether or not interviewers could assess the Five Factor personality traits during


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an interview. It has been argued that an important purpose of an interview is to assess the applicant’s personality type. However, there has been little research that examines the strength of the relationships between the applicant’s personality characteristics and the interviewer’s judgment of those characteristics. The study found that, even when the interview is not specifically designed to identify personality traits, interviewers can and do assess personality. However, the interviewers were unable to assess those traits that would best predict later job success, e.g., conscientiousness. The researchers also found evidence of impression management; that is, the job applicants managed the impressions they wanted to create during interviews, providing the interviewer with the information they thought the interviewer wanted to hear.

Scenario 3.1: The Story of Two Michaels—Two Personalities and Two Leadership Styles33

M

ichael Eisner was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Walt Disney Productions for many years. Although he had a contract that did not expire until 2006, he was involuntarily stripped of the chairman’s role in 2004 when 43 per cent of the shareholders voted “no confidence” in his abilities to continue leading the company. Michael Eisner has been described as a fierce competitor, someone who “clearly plays to win and more clearly hates to lose.”34 There is clearly only one winner and everyone else loses. When Michael wins, it is because of what he did; when he loses, it is always someone else’s fault. His approach to running Disney was clearly all about him calling the shots on his terms. While he hired talented people to work in the organization, his leadership style often contributed to the departure of many of these same individuals. Michael Dell was the Chief Executive Officer of Dell Computers. At about the same time that Michael Eisner was relieved of his responsibilities at Disney, Michael Dell announced that he was stepping down from the CEO position and turning over operations to Keith Rollins, his number two person. Rollins was 51 years old at the time, while Michael Dell was 39. Michael Dell, like Michael Eisner, has been described as a fierce competitor. Unlike Michael Eisner, however, Michael Dell does not become defensive when mistakes are made nor does he blame someone else. Rather, he focuses his attention on understanding why the mistake occurred and what can be done to avoid similar mistakes in the future.35 Michael Dell is also noted for surrounding himself with other smart people whom he leaves to manage the dayto-day operations of Dell. He does not try to run the company all by himself, which is a failure commonly observed in CEOs who founded their own companies.36

While both the individuals described in this scenario are very bright and talented, they are quite different in their management and leadership styles. These differences can be attributed


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in part to their different personalities and values. In any organization, one personality style might be better suited to successfully managing the company in meeting its objectives at a particular time and in a particular environment. However, that same personality style might not work as well in the same organization at a different time or in a different environment. Vocational Choice Theory

Vocational psychology is concerned with the individual’s choice of an occupation and satisfaction with and productivity in that occupation. Beginning in the 1950s, John Holland developed a theory of vocational choice, together with questionnaires that measured interest, personality types, and the concept of fit. His underlying premise was that “best-fit” between the person and the occupation resulted in high performance, high levels of satisfaction, and low levels of stress. A lack of fit leads to decreased performance, dissatisfaction with the job, and high levels of stress. The presence of work stress, resulting from a mismatch between the work environment and the worker’s values, desires and goals, can lead to low employee morale, low productivity, and high levels of absenteeism. Clearly, both the individual and the organization can benefit from a good or “best” fit situation. Holland’s theory of careers and his occupational classification system explicitly recognized the role of personality in occupational choice. He groups personalities and work environments into six major classes or categories: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional (RIASEC). Each category represents an interaction among a variety of cultural and personal forces such as peers, biological heredity, parents, social class, culture and the physical environments.37 Individuals classified as enterprising are ambitious, extroverted, self-confident, and energetic. They will seek out occupations that are compatible with these identified traits (for example, business executive, salesperson or sports promoter). webview Vocational Choice Theory http://www.usq.edu.au/course/material/psy4050 http://www.self-directed-search.com

There are numerous studies that support the premise that people choose careers to fit their personalities.38 One of these studies found that extroverts choose a job based on motivation factors such as achievement, advancement, recognition, and responsibility. Introverts, on the other hand, are more concerned with factors such as pay, benefits, and convenient hours.39 If we were to administer the Holland questionnaire to the two Michaels, we might find that they are both extroverts and fall into the enterprising classification. According to Holland’s theory, people will initially be attracted to a career based on their personalities, together with such factors as age, gender, social class, and level of education. It follows, then, that members of an occupational group will have similar personalities and


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similar histories of personal development. We are all familiar with occupational stereotypes and have heard such phrases as “but you don’t act like an accountant or librarian or whatever.” The stereotype is really a short cut to describing the personality traits of individuals who perform that occupation. It has become a stereotype because, as Holland tells us in his theory, an individual’s occupational choice is an expression of his or her personality. How then would we describe the personality of an accountant? According to Holland’s theory, the occupation of accountant fits into the Conventional category. Personality trait words used to describe an accountant include conscientious, careful, efficient, persistent, practical, and unimaginative.40 An individual whose personality traits indicate they fit the category of Social are interested in careers such as teaching, counselling, and nursing. These individuals are described as being cooperative, friendly, generous, idealistic, patient, responsible, and understanding.41 One of the problems with stereotypes is that a stereotype assumes that all people identified with it are exactly the same. In fact, this is not true. Even though individuals exhibit similar personalities and backgrounds, they are not identical. Stereotyping on the basis of occupation or some other identifying characteristic can lead to discriminatory behaviour in the organization. The organization, itself, might also discriminate on the basis of occupational stereotypes when hiring new employees. Unlike in the Five Factor Model, the questionnaires used for vocational theory do not always work as intended in some cultures. The questionnaires can require substantial editing before they can be used outside of North America. Some also question whether there is a gender bias inherent in the questionnaires. Thus, while the questionnaires are widely used, particularly in the field of career counselling, care should be exercised in interpreting the results. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®

Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your perceptions clearer, your judgments sounder and your life closer to your heart’s desire.42—Isabel Briggs Meyers The Myers-Briggs personality-type instrument has been in existence for over 60 years. Katharine Cook Briggs initially conceived the idea of using the instrument. Her daughter, Isabel Briggs-Meyers, a recent graduate in personnel management (class of 1943) continued her mother’s work. Isabel positioned the instrument as a “device to place the worker in the proper niche, keep him [sic] happy and increase production.”43 The stated purpose of the instrument is to help people better understand themselves and others, which then leads to better working relationships among workers in an organization. The underlying objective in the development of the instrument was to make the theory of personality types, as described by Carl Jung, understandable and useful in people’s lives.


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Jung developed a personality typology or classification. It begins with a distinction between introversion and extraversion. Introversion reflects an individual’s tendency to focus his or her energy on and be energized by the internal world of ideas, memories, and emotions. Extraverted individuals focus their energy on and are energized by the external world of people, experience, and activity. Jung also identified four mental processes that he labelled sensing, intuition, thinking, and feeling. Each of these four mental processes has predictable characteristics. However, a process can vary depending upon whether the process is focused on the introverted or extraverted world. Briggs and Meyers used Jung’s typology to develop 16 psychological types. An individual’s type indicator represents the individual’s preferred way of dealing with the world. So even among extroverts, for example, what appears to be random variation in behaviour is actually quite orderly and consistent for each individual, and this consistency occurs because the individual has a preferred way of using the four mental processes. Perception is how someone becomes aware of things, people, or ideas. Judgment involves the different ways that people arrive at conclusions about what they perceive. Different ways of perceiving and judging lead to different interests, reactions, values, motivations, and skills. The development of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument in accordance with Jungian personality theory aimed to find a good fit between employee and organization. Recall that the stated goal of the Myers- Briggs Type Indicator is creating “a device to place the worker in the proper niche” and that this goal mirrors the thinking of the Scientific Management School. It infers that the job will remain stable over a relatively long period of time. This inference is important because, as we saw, the nature of organizations and jobs is constantly changing, yet Myers-Briggs is one of the personality instruments most widely used in organizations around the world today. . The instrument is a self-report questionnaire; that is, the individual responds to a series of statements as to their personal preference in a variety of situations. The responses from the questionnaire are used to place the individual into one of 16 possible personality types (derived from Jung). An individual’s type can say quite a bit about a person’s likes and dislikes, likely career choices, and compatibility with others, for example. It is important to recognize, however, that an individual may exhibit characteristics from two or more of the 16 personality types during certain situations. “You’re an S; I’m an N.” “Of course you’d hate to fire him. You’re an NF.” Such cryptic conversations are common among staff members at the Fairfax County Public Library in Virginia (as well as within many other organizations in North America). When questioned, they will tell you that they are “talking MBTI” (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). Organizations use MBTI as a management tool to help with team building, time management, problem solving, developing effective task groups, and improving that ever-elusive corporate dynamic—communication. Libraries are no strangers to MBTI. They have used MBTI to help their staff develop a better understanding of self, co-workers, trustees, and patrons. It has even helped to determine personnel quirks in (book) weeding procedures.44


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The results from a Myers-Briggs personality instrument should be used with caution. It was primarily developed to give individuals access to a self-understanding that comes from recognizing one’s own preferred ways of functioning. Organizational uses of MBTI need to keep that focus foremost at all times. The types should never be used to select, promote, or fire individuals. Failure to thoroughly institutionalize and uphold these principles is a violation of professional ethics.45 There are numerous websites available on Myers-Briggs. They range from the official site of the Myers-Briggs Foundation to those organizations that offer online personality tests based on Myers-Briggs. The student is encouraged to review some of these sites. webview Myers-Briggs Type Indicator http://www.MyersBriggs.org http://www.aptcentral.org http://www.personalitypathways.com http://www.capt.org

Scenario 3.2: Use of Personality Tests in the Recruiting Process—An Individual’s Perspective46

T

he summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college, I spent twenty hours a week in a small, gray-paneled cubicle calling up strangers.... I was working for Gallup Polls; it had name recognition, the pay was good, and the work itself (which included conducting customer-satisfaction surveys and marketing research) was interesting. So, ... I worked hard, was productive, and even, occasionally, participated in quasi-humiliating “team building exercises.” I was a model employee. Gallup knew I would be ... [a model employee]. They had given me a personality test, after all. Indeed, after I was recommended to them by a friend who already worked at Gallup, the personality test was the only hurdle I faced. I don’t really remember much about the test—as with most personality tests, there weren’t any questions, just statements that I had to “strongly disagree,” “disagree,” “agree,” or “strongly agree” with. I assume I passed—whatever that means.... [But I must admit] that I lied to get that job at Gallup. That’s the one thing I really remember about the test: I was very consciously trying to figure out the answers [Gallup] ... wanted and then giving them. [For example,] I said I “strongly agreed” with the idea that “Life is full of opportunities.” Used with the permission of Stay Free! (http://www.stayfreemagazine.org)


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It is estimated that between 60 per cent and 90 per cent of companies now use some form of “employee assessment testing” in their recruiting process.47 Organizations typically use these tests because they are a faster, cheaper way of determining whom they will hire. An employer can direct a prospective job seeker to a third-party website for a short test for considerably less cost than arranging to conduct an hour-long interview. However, as noted in the story above, prospective employees can “lie” on these tests; that is, individuals respond in the ways that they think the employer wants them to. Therefore, hiring decisions should not be based solely on the results of a personality test.

Identity If you were asked to define yourself, chances are you would start by describing what you do for a living. Our sense of identity and self-esteem is tightly woven into our work. We assess our self-worth based on how successful we are at our jobs and how others perceive and acknowledge our performance.48 How can this be? The quotation indicates that our identity is closely linked to or aligned with environments external to ourselves. Yet our personality is based on unique, often stable traits, some of which are evident from birth. The quotation suggests that we can change our identity depending upon where we work or in response to other changes in our environment. In this section of the chapter, we explore the concept of identity, its creation and maintenance, and the impact of the organization on the answer to the question “Who am I?” Defining “Who We Are”

In traditional societies, an individual’s identity was thought to be fixed, solid and stable.49 A closer examination of individual identities in these societies reveals an interesting phenomenon. The individual’s identity was a function of predefined social roles and a traditional system of myths that provided orientation and religious sanctions to one’s place in the world.50 Organizations affected an individual’s identity even in traditional societies. The individual had little control over identity. Social scientists now acknowledge that identity is a social construct,51 not a stable characteristic that individuals are born with. Identity is a process of “becoming” rather than an end state of “being.”52 Identity is complex and multifaceted. The individual may “try out” potential identities when embarking on the process of identity formation. If identity is fluid and dynamic, it cannot be innate or instinctive. Identity, then, is significantly different from personality, which is believed to be genetic and evident from birth. An individual can have multiple identities, some of which may be more dominant in a specific situation. Consequently, an individual can have, among others, a gender identity, a racioethnic identity, and a professional identity.


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The discussion among social scientists about the concept of identity continues. Postmodernists view identity as unstable or fragile, suggesting that it is really a myth or an illusion.53 Thus, according to postmodern theorists, what started as a function of a traditional system of myths is now thought to be a myth. People may find the concept of identity more problematic than the concept of personality. Reflect for a moment on possible answers to the question “Who are you?” or “Tell me something about yourself.” Do you respond with a list of personality characteristics, such as “I am an extravert, conscientious, and a thinking person”? Or do you respond with information such as “I attend Saint Mary’s University, I play football on the intervarsity team, and I work part time at Wendy’s”? Note that, in the second set of responses, there is no reference to inherent personality traits. Rather, the individual “identifies” self on the basis of membership in particular groups, i.e., the university, the football team, and the work organization. If asked the same question, other individuals might give information about city or country of birth or number of brothers and sisters. Individuals identify themselves on the basis of factors that are not innate to them. What makes your identity unique from that of the next person is the combination of group memberships that you use in describing yourself. Social Identity Theory

Social Identity Theory (SIT) is a theory that is developed using the mental processes of acquiring knowledge through perception, intuition, and reasoning. Consequently, it is known as a cognitive theory. The basic premise is that all individuals have an identity. This identity includes both idiosyncratic characteristics and a social identity, incorporating salient group classification.54 The social component involves the individual in processes of self-categorization in which she attaches value to particular social categories. Social identity is the perception of “belongingness” to some human aggregate55 such as race, gender, social class, occupation, work group, and work organization. An individual may identify with more than one social category at any given time. A particular identity acquires significance, that is becomes important, when the individual makes a comparison among groups. In other words, the individual defines self relative to a particular time, situation, and audience.56 This comparison can be made across groups identified by such factors as race, gender, work group (i.e., between groups) or it can made among individuals comprising the same social group (within the same group). Individuals are always comparing themselves to others. Because of the ongoing process of comparison, an individual’s identity is fluid and dynamic in nature, not static. We saw in the discussion on personality that stereotypes can emerge based on certain personality traits and characteristics and in response to the individual’s occupation. Stereotypes can also appear when we consider identity. For example, a group of people working in a large organization can be stereotyped because they represent a minority group.


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Social Identity and the Work Organization Individuals can identify with multiple social categories or groups, which can range from gender and race to occupation and work organization. Each of these groups will have values, beliefs, norms, and demands that are inherent to the particular group. Psychological processes that drive people to favour members of their own in-group and discriminate against members of out-groups shape the way members of a group experience themselves and behave towards others in organizations.57 People spend a significant portion of their time at their work organization. Thus, the individual derives a sense of identity and of self from the work organization or from a specific work group within that organization. Individuals also derive a sense of identity from their various occupations, e.g., accountant, lawyer, or manager. Identity involves a process of becoming. Work organizations influence and contribute to the meaning people attach to their membership in identity groups, and this meaning, in turn, shapes their social interactions with members of their own and other identity groups.58 Identification with the work organization is highly accessible and salient. Consider the following factors within the work organization that act as cues to an individual’s status and identity: daily interaction, continual following of organizational routines, repeated exchanges over relatively long periods of time, provision of a pay cheque, and inclusion on the organizational chart.59 The work organization also classifies, categorizes, and distributes individuals and groups through the use of titles and the allocation of physical space. Organizational processes, such as segregation, discrimination, and group composition can structure comparison and attribution processes by shaping the relative value individuals attach to groups.60 In 2002, Towers Perrin, in conjunction with Gang & Gang Inc., conducted a study designed to obtain an understanding of the nature and intensity of employees’ emotional connections to their jobs. Researchers surveyed 1,100 employees working for mid-size to large companies across North America. Participants were asked to describe their feelings about their current work experience and a desired (ideal) work experience. The survey also included 300 executives, who were asked to respond to how they thought employees at their company would describe their current work experience. Employees defined the total work experience in terms of three factors: MYSELF—the extent to which work gives them a sense of confidence, competence, and control over their destinies; MY JOB—the nature of what they do, how they contribute, and how they’re recognized and rewarded; and MY WORKPLACE—the people they work with and for and the company’s culture and atmosphere.


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webview Exploring Employees’ Emotional Connections to Their Jobs http://www.towersperrin.com

The survey results indicated that employees are extremely negative about their current work experience. Negative emotions were prominent and strong. The survey authors noted that the prevalence of these strong negative emotions were a recipe for increasingly serious disengagement and reduced performance. Factors found to have the most influence on the current negative emotions were a heavy workload, lack of support from management in the areas of dealing with workload issues and developing and executing a clear vision and plan for the organization, the future (i.e., job security), boredom and lack of challenges, and the recognition / reward structure. At the other end of the spectrum, respondents indicated that factors related to employees’ sense of self-worth are involved in the creation of an ideal work experience. These factors included 1) results (the contribution the individual makes to the company and the work team), 2) people (the quality of relationships with the people they work for and with), and 3) rewards and energy (the level of stimulation, excitement, enjoyment, and stress in the work environment). The authors concluded that these ideal work experience factors underscored the importance of a strong personal connection to work. They noted that even in an “ideal” environment, employees recognized that they would still face questions about overwork, worries about the future, too much stress, and insufficient work challenge. Finally, the authors concluded that, without strong positive ties to work or the work experience, employees have little incentive to go the distance or deliver consistently top performance.61 The analysis of the survey results presented above underscores current mainstream management thinking concerning workers in the organization. That is, as long as employees feel strongly connected to and identify with their work organization, they will deliver consistently strong performance, regardless of the many obstacles that they face during the working day. Although many of the respondents noted issues related to work load and lack of support from management, there is no discussion or critique of the impact on the individual employees who do not feel connected to the work organization. Nor do the authors explore possible relationships between a lack of connection and identity with the presence of stress in the employees’ lives. We saw that workers who encounter stress in the work place can exhibit reduced work performance. Holland, in his theory of vocational choice, noted that work stress was a reflection of a mismatch between the individual and the organization. In this study by Perrins & Towers, the potential mismatch of employees to work is not discussed. The work organization is comprised of many different social groups, which define themselves on the basis of occupation or role (e.g., executive, accountant, salesperson). Identity may also be based on the workgroup, department, or physical location within the organization. For example, it is common to hear organizational members and management consult-


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ants talk about silos in organizations. A silo is created when members in one department or function do not interact with those in another department, even though there might be operational benefits to the interaction. The silo effect is often attributed to the hierarchical structure of the organization, within which communication flows up and down, but not across. However, the silo effect can also result from the social identity of the members of the respective departments or silos. The members of one group (silo) may perceive themselves as unique and quite different from the members of other groups, and they may work to maintain that sense of uniqueness. This desire to retain the uniqueness of a group can lead to negative behaviours and outcomes in an organization, for example, a lack of communication between groups that should be working closely together, duplication of work, and items falling “through the cracks” because neither group took responsibility.

Scenario 3.3: Employee Identity and Employers’ Compensation Packages

A

n emerging phenomenon in social movements in North America is identity politics. Individuals define themselves primarily as members of an “oppressed” group outside of the dominant, white, male, heterosexual, and capitalist culture. The key markers distinguishing these groups include sex, race, culture, and sexual preference. Each identity group tends to be insular and fragmented, focusing solely on the experiences and politics of the specific group.62 Although identity politics has been criticized for its insular focus, organizations often perpetuate this fragmentation in the design of benefits packages available to employees. For example, many companies promote themselves as having family-friendly policies such as onsite day care and emergency day care programs. However, not all employees have children, thus limiting this “benefit” to a select subgroup of employees. Haar & Spell63 found a backlash against the work-family benefits offered by New Zealand organizations. Non-users had a stronger negative attitude towards organizational support and benefits and perceived that they did not acquire any support or benefits of worth from their employer. While this backlash did not lead to greater feelings of job dissatisfaction, it did nothing to improve job satisfaction for those not using the work-family benefits.

We saw that organizational processes might contribute to reducing an individual’s uncertainty about his or her self-concept and place in the social world. Uncertainty reduction could be viewed as a positive outcome, particularly if it allows the individual to focus on the job and increase job performance. However, the reduction of uncertainty can result in unintended and sometimes negative outcomes for certain groups or group members. Kanter’s work64 provides some insight into the results of uncertainty in organizations. She noted that leaders in a variety of situations are likely to show preference to subordinates who


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are socially similar to them. Management will often develop tight inner circles excluding social strangers and keep control in the hands of socially homogenous peers. The management group tends to prefer ease of communication and social certainty over the strains of dealing with people who are different.65 The greater the uncertainty, the more likely that those who trust each other will form a homogeneous group. That leads to social similarity. Kanter went on to note that people who do not “fit in” to the social characteristics of the homogeneous management group tend to be clustered in those parts of management of least uncertainty. Most women in business have found their management opportunities in low uncertainty, non-discretionary positions—closer to the bottom of the organization in more routinized functions or in “expert” rather than decision-making roles. Women are also found in those areas where the least social contact and organizational communication are required (e.g., administrative staff roles) and in areas where they are removed from the principal operations (e.g., public relations).66 The same closing of social rank in times of uncertainty that prevents women from achieving senior management roles in an organization also works to exclude other socially dissimilar groups from advancement. A review of the corporate board members and senior management teams in North America will find a disproportionate number of white males. Missing from the picture are women (although a few have advanced to these senior positions) and racioethnic groups other than Caucasian. This closing of ranks or homogeneous reproduction represents a form of discriminatory behaviour, although it isn’t as overt as other behaviours. The power of social identity to define a group and its members’ status relative to other groups can pose a barrier to a diverse organization.67 Members of a low-status group in an organization may not be able to maintain positive group distinctiveness. Thus, the individual may disassociate from a low-status group and attempt to assimilate culturally and psychologically into a higher status group.68 For example, women in male-dominated organizations may attempt to assimilate by altering their thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and expectations at work to mirror those typically associated with men. This attempted assimilation can result in negative outcomes for the individual. For example, a woman demonstrating the supposedly masculine traits of decisiveness and power may be seen as threatening or aggressive to other members of an organization, although failure to act with decisiveness and power labels women as not being aggressive enough to manage the challenges of executive roles.69 Over time, the identity conflict caused by attempts to assimilate to higher status groups may become so overwhelming that the individual chooses to leave the organization.

Conclusion This chapter has looked at the role that an individual’s personality and identity play in determining behaviours within an organization. The student should now be able to recognize that behaviour does not happen in isolation within the organization. The individual’s


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personality traits and social identity (or identities) play a role in determining the behaviours. The organization can exploit those personality traits and manage social identity so as to benefit in terms of organizational effectiveness, increased profits, and reputation. This, too, affects the behaviours in the organization. Not all of these behaviours result in positive outcomes. A lack of fit in the organization can result in conflict, which can ultimately result in terminations.

Study Break The following questions are designed to strengthen your understanding of the chapter. Write short notes in answer to each. The assignments are intended to encourage you to reflect on what you have read so far. Q.1

Define personality.

Q.2

The multitude of personality theories can be grouped into three main categories or approaches. Define the three categories. Which category do you think represents the “best” approach to understanding personality?

Q.3

Describe the following concepts: (i) Person-job fit (ii) Person-organization fit

Q.4

Which of the “fit” concepts is based on the principles of scientific management?

Q.5

Is there any relationship between an individual’s personality and the person-job approach to recruiting?

Q.6

What are some of the limitations in utilizing the “person-job fit” approach to recruit employees?

Q.7

Describe the Five Factor Model of Personality.

Q.8

Why is the Five Factor Model widely accepted by personality researchers?

Q.9

Explain the origins of The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®.

Q.10

How can organizations use Myers-Briggs with their employees?


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chapter three Personality and Identity [ 1 19] Q.11

Describe limitations in the use of Myers-Briggs in organizations.

Q.12

In traditional societies, an individual’s identity was thought to be fixed and stable. Is this view still true in modern society? Explain your answer.

Q.13

Describe Social Identity Theory (SIT).

Q.14

Compare and contrast the concepts of personality and identity.

Q.15

It is human nature to try to reduce uncertainty. What can the reduction of uncertainty look like in management or other groups in organizations? Is this a positive or a negative outcome?

Notes 1. D. Geddes, “CU study finds employee personality holds key to successful work-sharing,” Cornell Chronicle 28, no. 21 (1997), (accessed January 13, 2005). 2. Linden M. Petrin quoted in Carol Kleiman, “Does Your Job Match Your Personality?” Job Smart, March 1998 (accessed January 13, 2005). 3. James Neill, “Personality & Individual Differences: An Undergraduate Psychology Course,” University of Canberra, Australia (accessed April 19, 2005). 4. T.A. Judge and D.M Cable, “Applicant Personality, Organizational Culture, and Organization Attraction,” Personnel Psychology 50 (1997): 360. 5. W.R. Nord and S. Fox, “The Individual in Organizational Studies: the Great Disappearing Act?” in Handbook of Organization Studies, ed. S.R. Clegg, C. Hardy, and W.R. Nord (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996), 148-174. 6. Hogan (1991) quoted in Nord and Fox, “The Individual in Organizational Studies,” 159. 7. See, for example, J.M. George, “The Role of Personality in Organizational Life: Issues and Evidence,” Journal of Management 18, no.2 (1992): 185–213. 8. Pervin (1968) quoted in George, “The Role of Personality,” 195. 9. George Boeree, “Personality Theories,” Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA (accessed January 13, 2005). 10. R. J. House, A. Howard, and G. Walker, “The Prediction of Managerial Success: A Competitive Test of the Person-Situation Debate,” Academy of Management Proceedings 42 (1991): 215–19. 11. George, “The Role of Personality in Organizational Life.” 12. House et al., “The Prediction of Managerial Success.” 13. See, for example, Muchinsky and Monahan (1987) as described in J.D. Werbel and S.W. Gilliland, “Person-Environment Fit in the Selection Process,” Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management 17 (1999): 209–43. 14. Werbel and Gilliland, “Person-Environment Fit,” 212. 15. Longwood University, “Policy 5228–Recruitment and Selection,” Longwood University, Farmville, VA (accessed May 1, 2006). 16. Yahoo, “Yahoo Hotjobs” (accessed April 23, 2005).


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part ii Individual Behaviour and the Organizational Context 17. B. Taylor, “Workers of the world delight: New careers appear as old jobs fade,” Toronto Star. Sunday, January 4, 2004, A01 18. Golden Jubilee National Hospital, “Midwife job description template,” (accessed April 23, 2005). 19. B.F. Reskin and P. Roos, Job Queues, Gender Queues, Explaining Women’s Inroads into Male Occupations (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990). 20. Werbel and Gilliland, “Person-Environment Fit,” 217. 21. Deloitte & Touche LLP, “Ethics & Integrity,” (accessed April 30, 2006). 22. Judge and Cable, “Applicant Personality,” 384. 23. A. Furnham, “Vocational Preference and P-O Fit: Reflections on Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice,” Applied Psychology: An International Review 50, no. 1 (2001): 5–29. 24. Michael Alan Hamlin, “Two Women & A Paradox,” Teamasia Press Release, July 5, 1999 (accessed April 23, 2005). 25. R. Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books, 1977). 26. Kanter, Men and Women, 48. 27. For example, T.A. Judge and J.E. Bono, “Five Factor Model of Personality and Transformational Leadership,” Journal of Applied Psychology 85, no. 5 (2000): 751–65. 28. The use and reproduction of the test is prohibited without the permission of the test publisher Psychological Assessment Resources. 29. The studies were performed by Barrick and Mount (1991) and by Tett and Jackson (1991). 30. J. Rust, “Discriminant Validity of the ‘Big Five’ Personality Traits in Employment Settings,” Social Behavior & Personality 27, no. 1 (1999): 99–108. 31. M.R. Barrick, G.K. Patton, and S.N. Houghland, “Accuracy of Interviewer Judgments of Job Applicant Personality Traits,” Personnel Psychology 53 (2000): 925–46. 32. House et al., “The Predictions of Managerial” 33. Barrick, Patton, and Houghland, “Accuracy of Interviewer Judgments” 34. Ira S. Wolfe, “The Tale of 2 Michaels—To plan or not to succession plan,” The Total View, May 17, 2004, (accessed October 20, 2004). 35. J. Pletz, “Michael Dell’s view from the top”, American-Statesman Staff, May 2, 2004 (accessed May 7, 2006) 36. Pletz, “Michael Dell’s view from the top” 37. Furnham, “Vocational Preference and P-O Fit” 38. Furnham, “Vocational Preference and P-O Fit” 39. Furnham, Forde, and Ferrari (1999) quoted in Furnham, “Vocational Preference and P-O Fit,” 9. 40. J. Holland, “Self-Directed Search” (accessed April 24, 2005). 41. J. Holland, “Self-Directed Search” 42. Myers Briggs Foundation (accessed April 24, 2005). 43. I. Briggs-Myers, Introduction to Type, 6th ed. (California: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc., 1998). 44. B. Webb, “Type-Casting, Life with Myers-Briggs,” Library Journal 115, no. 11 (1990): 32–37. 45. Briggs-Myers, Introduction to Type, 38 46. Abridged from A.M. Cox, “I am Never Lonely: A brief history of employee personality testing,” Stay Free! 21 (2003) (accessed January 13, 2005). 47. Cox, “I am Never Lonely”


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chapter three Personality and Identity [ 1 21] 48. D. Ratusny, “Redefine your identity,” The Globe and Mail, November 21, 2003 (accessed January 12, 2004). 49. D. Kellner, “Popular Culture and the Construction of Postmodern Identities,” in Modernity and Identity, ed. S. Lash and J. Friedman, 141–77 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992). 50. Kellner, “Popular Culture” 51. See for, example, Kellner, “Popular Culture.” 52. J. Hearn, “Alternative Conceptualizations and Theoretical Perspectives on Identities and Organizational Cultures: A Personal Review of Research on Men in Organizations,” in Gender, Identity and the Culture of Organizations, ed. I. Aaltio and A.J. Mills, 39–56 (London: Routledge, 2002). 53. Kellner, “Popular Culture” 54. B.E. Ashforth and F. Mael, “Social Identity Theory and the Organization,” Academy of Management Review 14, no. 1 (1989): 20–39. 55. Ashforth and Mael, “Social Identity Theory,” 21. 56. Ashforth and Mael, “Social Identity Theory” 57. M. Elmes and D.L. Connelley, “Dreams of Diversity and the Realities of Intergroup Relations in Organizations,” in Managing the Organizational Melting Pot, ed. P. Prasad, A.J. Mills, M. Elmes, and A. Prasad, 148–67 (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc., 1997). 58. R.J. Ely “The Effects of Organizational Demographics and Social Identity on Relationships among Professional Women,” Administrative Science Quarterly 39 (1994): 203–38. 59. S.G. Scott, “A Stakeholder Approach to Organizational Identity,” Academy of Management Review 25, no. 1 (2000): 43–62. 60. R.J. Ely, “The Power in Demography: Women’s Social Constructions of Gender Identity at Work,” Academy of Management Journal 38, no. 3 (1995): 1–41. 61. Towers Perrin, “Working Today: Exploring Employees’ Emotional Connections to Their Jobs” (report, Towers Perrin, March 1, 2003) (accessed January 12, 2004). 62. S. Best and D. Kellner The Postmodern Turn (New York: The Guilford Press, 1997). 63. J. Haar and C.S. Spell, “Where is the justice? Examining work-family backlash in New Zealand: the potential for employee resentment,” New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations 28 no.1 (2003): 59–74. 64. Kanter, Men and Women. 65. Kanter, Men and Women. 66. Kanter, Men and Women. 67. Elmes and Connelley, “Dreams of Diversity” 68. Ely, “The Power in Demography” 69. Elmes and Connelley, “Dreams of Diversity”


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