Chapter 2

1. Chapter 2 Understanding Individual Differences

2. INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS • Individual differences exert a profound effect on job performance and behavior. • Key sources of individual differences on the job are personality, mental ability, values, and emotional intelligence. • An example of individual differences is the ability to concentrate on work.

3. Neuroticism (emotional stability) Extraversion Openness (to experience) Agreeableness (courteous and good-natured) Conscientiousness Self-monitoring (saying what people want to hear) Risk taking and thrill seeking Optimism EIGHT PERSONALITY FACTORS RELATED TO INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

4. CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF FIVE-FACTOR MODEL (n = 7,134 people) • Five-Factor Model held true for six national groups studied. • Researchers concluded that personality structure is universal, like brain and body. • Extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are major factors in most cultures.

5. EIGHT PERSONALITY FACTORS AND JOB PERFORMANCE • A particular trait may give us a bias toward certain actions, such as being conscientious. • Conscientiousness (particularly dependability) is the trait most consistently related to success. • Extraversion is linked to success for managers and sales representatives. • High self-monitors get better performance ratings. • Combination of traits often helps performance. • Optimism and pessimism can help performance, depending on the job.

6. PERSONALITY TYPES (MBTI®)AND COGNITIVE STYLES • Cognitive styles are modes of problem solving, based on four dichotomies: • Extraversion-introversion • Sensing-intuition • Thinking-feeling • Judging-perceiving 16 personality types result from combining all four of the above, such as the ESTJ (organizer).

7. DEALING WITH DIFFERENT PERSONALITY TYPES • Be laid back with neurotics. • Be friendly and warm toward extraverts. • Move slowly with introverts. • Share information and ideas with person open to experience. • Stick closely to facts with closed person.

8. DEALING WITH PERSONALITY TYPES, continued • With agreeable person, relax and be yourself. • With disagreeable person, be patient and tolerant. • With conscientious person, give freedom and do not nag. • Keep close tabs on low conscientious person. • Don’t believe all a self-monitor tells you.

9. DEALING WITH PERSONALITY TYPES, continued • With risk takers, emphasize risks. • With low-risk takers, emphasize stability and security. • For sensing-type person, emphasize facts and figures. • For intuiting-type person, emphasize feelings and judgments.

10. MENTAL ABILITY • Traditional intelligence components:(general) factor, and s (special factors), such as verbal comprehension, numerical acuity, and spatial relations. • Practical intelligence comes from the triarchic theory, which consists of analytical, creative, and practical intelligence (common sense and street smarts).

11. Verbal comprehension Word fluency Numerical acuity Spatial perception Memory Perceptual speed Inductive reasoning (discover rule or principle) SPECIAL FACTORS WITHIN OVERALL MENTAL APTITUDE

12. IMPLICATIONS OF PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE • Person who is not great scholar may still make a good living, and lead a good life. • Person with high practical intelligence usually has good intuition. • Experience is helpful in developing intellectual skills and judgment. • However, people with high analytical intelligence can still be practical minded.

13. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES Individuals possess the following eight intelligences in varying degrees. • Linguisitic (language skills) • Logical-mathematical (2x=4; x =?) • Musical (good at opera and rap) • Spatial (3D and graphics) • Bodily/kinesthetic (e.g. sports and dancing) • Intrapersonal (self-knowledge) • Interpersonal (this course) • Naturalist (the environment)

14. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Emotional intelligence deals with the management of feelings and emotions, as follows: • Self-awareness (understand moods, emotions and needs) • Self-management (control one’s emotions) • Social awareness (empathy for others, intuition about work problems) • Relationship management (good interpersonal skills including building strong bonds)

15. RELATING TO PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT INTELLIGENCE • Mentally quick—present ideas in depth • Mentally slow—present ideas without depth, use basic vocabulary • Number cruncher—use quantitative data • Creative intelligence—solicit input • Low emotional intelligence—explain attitudes and feelings carefully.

16. VALUES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES • A value is the importance a person attaches to something and is tied in with ethics, the moral choices a person makes. • We learn values as we grow up, as well as modeling others. • Your values are related to the kind of person you are and the quality of your relationships. It pays to clarify your values. • A mesh between individual and organizational values enhances job performance. • A clash between your values and job demands results in person-role conflict.

17. VALUE STEREOTYPES FOR THREE GENERATIONS • Baby Boomers (1946-1964): Like hierarchy, loyal, diplomatic. • Generation X (1961-1980): Techno- savvy, like teamwork, loyal to self. • Generation Y (1981-2002): Techno-savvy, like teamwork, question traditional way of doing things.

18. HOW VALUES ARE LEARNED • Observing others, or modeling • Communication of attitudes from key people • Religious teachings • Events reported by the media, including popular culture • Technology such as digital lifestyle

19. USING VALUES TO ENCHANCE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS • Establish your values, then use them as guidelines, such as Golden Rule. • Establish your values as employee, and avoid compromising them. • Values are opinions, so discuss different points of view. • Recognize that may people want to have impact on lives of others.