Module 2: Chapter 2 (Personality & Learning)

Question 1

Define personality

Answer 1

a relatively stable set of psychological characteristics on how you feel, behave, and think

Question 2

Define Dispositional approach, Situational approach, and Interactionist approach

Answer 2

• Dispositional approach: individuals possess stable traits that influence their attitudes and behaviours
  → Individuals are predisposed to behave in certain ways
• Situational approach: characteristics of the organizational setting influences people’s attitudes and behaviour
  → Such as rewards and punishment that influence people’s behaviour
• Interactionist approach [Combined approach]: Individuals’ attitudes and behaviour are a function of both dispositions and the situation
  → to understand OB, one must know something about an individual’s personality and the setting in which a person works

Question 3

Define trait activation theory

Answer 3

traits lead to certain behaviours only when situations makes the need for the trait salient (most noticeable)

Question 4

Personality Variables: Define the Five Factor Model and describe the five factors

EECAO

Answer 4

Five Factor Model: Five dimensions that describe personality

• Extraversion/introvert: person is outgoing versus shy; requires a lot of interpersonal interaction
• Emotional stability/neuroticism: has emotional control; lower emotional stability (neuroticism) means depression
• Agreeableness/cold: are cooperative; cold people are uncooperative
• Conscientiousness/lazy: a person is goal-orientated; lazy people are careless
• Open to Experience/conservative: a person thinks flexibly and is receptive to new ideas; conservatives favour the status quo

Question 5

Personality Variables: define the Locus of Control and the two types

Answer 5

Locus of control: a set of beliefs about whether one’s behaviour is controlled mainly by internal or external forces

• Internal Locus: they believe they are the centre of control in their life (ex. Driver of their life)
• External locus: best in the passenger side of your life, don’t have much control of your life, external controls affect your outcomes

Question 6

Personality Variables: define Self-Monitoring

Hint: how people regulate and how they a___ and b___ in

Answer 6

Self-Monitoring: the extent to which people observe and regulate how they appear and behave in social settings and relationships
→ High-self monitors take great care in observing thoughts, actions, and feelings of those around them, tune into social cues

Question 7

Personality Variables: define self-esteem, stemming from that, define behavioural plasticity theory

Answer 7

Self-esteem: the degree to which a person has a positive self-evaluation
→ either have high or low confidence
→ low-esteem people react badly with feedback as they seek approval from others

• Behavioural plasticity theory: people with low self-esteem tend to be more susceptible to external and social influences than those who have higher self-esteem

Question 8

Define Positive Affectivity and Negative Affectivity

Answer 8

• Positive Affectivity: propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a positive light
  → Are cheerful, lively, and energetic; have higher job performance
• Negative Affectivity: propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a negative light
  → Experience anxiety, depression, unhappiness; likely to use harassment and physical aggression, and absenteeism and turnover

Question 9

Define Proactive personality, as well, define Proactive behaviour

Hint: environment versus idea/theory

Answer 9

Proactive personality: a personal disposition that reflects a tendency to take initiative across a range of situations to effect positive change in one’s environment
→ Are not constrained by situational forces and act to change their environment

Proactive behaviour: taking initiative to improve current circumstances or creating new ones
→ Challenges the status quo (being more proactive)

Question 10

Define Self-Efficacy (GSE)

Answer 10

a general trait that refers to an individual’s belief in their ability to perform successfully in a variety of challenging situations
→ a motivational trait

Question 11

a broad personality concept that consists of more specific traits that reflect the evaluations people hold about themselves and their self-worth.

Which personality concept is this?
And what four traits does it makeup?

Answer 11

Core Self-evaluations

→ The four traits that makeup a person's core self-evaluation are self-esteem, general self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism (emotional stability)

Question 12

Define Operant learning

Hint: people learn to operate..

Answer 12

Operant Learning: learning by which the subject learns to operate on the environment to achieve certain outcomes
* Ex. Salespeople learn effective sales techniques to achieve commissions and avoid criticism from their managers

Question 13

Operant learning Theory: define Reinforcement , Positive Reinforcement, and Negative Reinforcement

Note: Both Positive and Negative Reinforcement achieve the same result

Answer 13

• Reinforcement: the process by which stimuli strengthen behaviours
  → Ex. The sales commissions and criticism are reinforces for salespeople
• Positive Reinforcement: the application of a stimulus that increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour
  → Ex. Securities analyst reads a particular set of financial newspapers regularly, as the development of this reading habit has resulted in a series of successful business decisions
• Negative Reinforcement: the removal of a stimulus that in turn increases or maintains the probability of some behaviour
  → Ex. Managers who constantly nag at their employees unless the employees work hard are using negative reinforcement; the only way employees can stop the nagging is if they work harder

Question 14

What are the two ways to reduce the probability of a behaviour?

Answer 14

• Extinction: the gradual dissipation of behaviour following the termination of reinforcement
• Punishment: the application of an aversive stimulus following some behaviour designed to decrease the probability of that behaviour

Question 15

Define Social Cognitive Theory

Answer 15

Social Cognitive Theory (SCT): emphasizes the role of cognitive processes in learning and in the regulation of people’s behaviour
→ People learn by observing the behaviour of others
→ People manage their own behaviour by thinking about the consequences of their actions

Question 16

Social Cognitive Theory: define Observational Learning, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Self-Regulation

Answer 16

• Observational Learning: the process of observing and imitating the behaviour of others
  → Examining others, seeing their consequences, and thinking about what happens if they act the same way (value their experiences over their own)
• Self-Efficacy Beliefs: beliefs people have about their ability to successfully perform a specific task
  → Is a task-specific cognitive appraisal of one’s ability to perform a specific task (not trait)
• Self-Regulation: the use of learning principle to regulate one’s own behaviour
  → Collect self-observational data
  → Observe models - imitate peers
  → Rehearse
  → Reinforce oneself