Personality is defined as relatively consistent internal states and stable pattern of behaviors that explain an individual’s behavioral tendencies.
- Sum of total of manners, which a person interacts and reacts with others
- Mean how people understand & view themselves and how people affect others, as well as their person-situation interaction and pattern of outer & inner measurable traits.
In other words personality refers as relatively stable set of psychological features that separates one person from another.
The Big Five Personality Traits
A group of basic traits that is particularly relevant to organizations know as the big five personality traits. These traits contain on conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, negative emotionality and openness.
The Five Big Model of Personality
In terms of traits, personality is particularly specified. A particular element of personality that explain certain tendencies an individual has to think, feel and act in a particular way.
Thus a person’s personality is a combination of traits which are considered to be organized hierarchically.
At the top of this hierarchy are placed five general personality dimensions by the Big Five model of personality which are as follow.
Extroversion
Extroversion refers to the inclination to be friendly, social and expressive. Extraversion is also known as positive affectivity and is considered as one of the Big Five personality traits.
It explains predisposition of persons to feel better about themselves & the world and experience positive emotional states.
Extroverts experience high level of job satisfaction and are more affectionate, sociable & friendly than introverts.
Emotional Stability
The inclination to experience positive emotional states is known as emotional stability. The people’s dispositions to feel distressed, experience negative emotional states and see the world around them negatively is known as neuroticism or negative affectivity which is another Big Five trait.
Devil’s advocate role is played by them in the organization, specifying issues with suggested course of action.
Persons negative on neuroticism mostly feel stressed, experience negative moods and have a negative orientation at work.
They are very vital for their personal performance, an inclination that drives them to excel in critical thinking & evaluation and to make improvements.
These persons exert sobering affect by mentioning negative aspects of a decision, in group decision making.
Agreeableness
Agreeableness means being forgiving, courteous, trusting, tolerant and self-hearted. Another Big Five trait is agreeableness which concentrates on differentiation between person who do not get along well with others and those who do.
Persons low in agreeableness are mistrustful, antagonistic, uncooperative and unsympathic, whereas persons high in this dimension are affectionate, caring and likable.
Agreeableness is helpful in fostering good working relationships and is likely to contribute to being a team player.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is displayed by those who are organized, dependable and responsible. It is the Big Five trait that refers to the degree to which a person is scrupulous, careful and persevering.
Persons low in conscientiousness may lack direction and self-discipline, whereas persons high in this dimension are organized and self-disciplined.
In a wide variety of organizations, conscientiousness has been considered to be good predictor of performance in many jobs.
Openness to Experience
It shows the degree to which a person is willing to be a risk-taker and has broad interests. Openness to experience is a trait that refers to the degree a person is open to large kinds of stimuli, is original, is willing to take risks and has broad interests, rather than being narrow-minded or cautious.
The organization must remove obstacles to innovation, for openness to experience to be translated into innovative & creative behavior.
Other Organizationally Relevant Personality Traits
For understanding behavior in organization, following are the other important traits.
Locus of Control
Persons whose behaviors & actions have an influence in ascertaining what happen to them known as internal locus of control.
On the other hand, persons who think that external forces are widely responsible for their fate have external locus of control. Internals require less direct supervision and are more easily motivated than externals.
Self Monitoring
The degree to which people struggle to control the manner they present themselves to others is refers to as self-monitoring. Persons increased on self-monitoring act in a socially acceptable manner.
In regard of other people’s impressions on them, they excel in managing that. Low self-monitors are not concerned about what others think of their conduct and are insensitive to cues concerning appropriate behavior.
Low self-monitors give honest and open feedback whereas high self-monitors interact properly with various kinds of people.
Self- Esteem
The degree to which people have pride in their capabilities and in themselves is refers to as self-esteem.
People with low self-esteem are full of apprehension & self-doubt whereas persons with high self-esteem tend to set higher goals, believe in their abilities and do more difficult tasks.
Still, individuals with reduced self-esteem may be just having same capabilities than those with increased self-esteem
