Introduction to management

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Trait Theory: It visualizes personality as a reflection of certain traits of the individual. 

This theory was put forward by ‘ALLPORT”. Trait is a distinctive and personal form 

of behaviour. There are many traits, which are common to most people, some are 

unique to a person and other individuals share some. On the basis of trait theory, 

people can be described as aggressive, loyal, pleasant, flexible, humorous, 

sentimental, impulsive, cool and so on. Traits are basic elements of personality and 

 

1)  Psycho-analytical Theory 

2)  Trait Theory 

3)  Type Theory 

4)  Self Concept Theory 

5) Social Learning Theory

 

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can be used to summarize behaviour. The trait of an individual or ‘Personal 

disposition is studied at three levels: 

a)  Cardinal Trait Level: ALLPORT defined cardinal traits as those pervasive traits 

which are so powerful/dominant that rarely all the individual action can be traced 

back to them. As these are highly influential traits, so they are named after key 

historical figures like Mother Teresa, Hitler, Romeo etc. This level describes a trait so 

broad and so deep in its impact that it overshadows the influence of other traits for the 

same individual. 

b)  Central Trait Level: ALLPORT describes central traits as those that might be referred 

in careful recommendations or at a rating scale.  These are unique and limited in 

number. The traits at this level means to convey what can be expected from a person 

most of the time. 

c)  Secondary Trait level: These are least generalized traits of a person. The range of 

influence of these traits is very narrow. These peripheral traits are specialized to the 

situation. 

 

 

Cattell used groups of traits to describe the structure of personality. He put these 

traits in the following categories: 

a)  Surface Traits: Wise-foolish, sociable-seclusive, honest-dishonest etc. 

b)  Source Traits: Trustful-suspicious, relaxed-tense, dominant-submissive, forthright-

shrewd, cheerfulness-depressed etc. 

 

3.  Type Theory: “Type is simply a class of individuals said to share common collection 

of characteristics”. Type approach discuss the personality in the following ways: 

a)  Type on the basis of body build: 

i.  Endomorph: They are fat, thick in proportion to their height. They seek comfort, eat 

too much, jovial, affectionate and liked by all. They are even tempered, show a 

relaxed posture, easy to get along with others and are tolerant of others. They prefer 

to be led than to lead.  

 

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ii.  Ectomorph: They are thin, long and poorly developed physically. They work well in 

closed areas and displays restraint, inhibition and desire for concealment. They 

prefer not to attract attention to him and tend to be distrustful of others. They are 

anxious, ambitious and dedicated. 

iii.  Mesomorph: They are basically strong, athletic and tough. They seeks lot of 

muscular activity, tends to be highly aggressive and self-assertive. They desire 

action, power and domination and they can run faster and smile brighter. 

b)  Type on the basis of nature: 

i.  Introvert: The people with following characteristics are introvert such as- shyness, 

social withdrawal, emotional, process the idea within themselves. Introvert can be 

good scientists and researchers. 

ii.  Extrovert: People having following characteristics are extrovert. These are- socials, 

talkative, less emotional, easily makes friends, easily express their ideas and 

feelings. Extroverts propagate more knowledge and ideas to society. They can be 

good reporters, actors and marketers. 

iii.  Ambiverts/Reserved: These are the people between introverts and extroverts. 

 

c)  Type A and Type B: 

i.  Type A: Persons are those who are highly achievement oriented, competitive feel, 

chronic sense of time urgency and impatient whenever their work slow down. Type 

A are on fast track of life and are more successful in reaching top slot. They work 

against opposing forces. Managers in this category are hard drivers, detailed 

oriented people with high performance standards. These people have difficulty in 

increasing cordial interpersonal relationships and create a lot of stress for 

themselves and for the people they deal with. If they have to complete a task within 

given deadline, they feel pressurized. Researchers have proved that Type A 

personality profile lead to health problems and specially heart related illness. 

ii.  Type B: These kinds of persons are easy going, no competitive drive, feel no 

emergency. They are relaxed, sociable and have a balanced outlook on life. They are 

not over ambitious, are more patient and take a broader view of things. In order to 

meet a deadline they do not feel pressurized. They may be hardworking but feel no 

 

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pressing conflict with people or time and hence are not prone to stress and coronary 

problems. 

 

4.  Self-Concept Theory: This theory is organized around the concept that the individual 

himself largely determines personality and behaviour. It is also termed as organismic 

or field theories, which emphasize on totality and inter relatedness of all behaviour. 

There are four factors consider in self-concept theory. These are- 

a) 

Self-Image: Every person has certain beliefs about who or what he is. The beliefs of 

the individuals are the proof of self-image or self-identity. Thus self-image is the 

way one sees himself. 

b) 

Ideal Self: As discussed earlier self image indicates the realities of a person as 

perceived by him, but ideal self indicates the ideal position as perceived by him. It 

denotes the way one would like to be. 

c) 

Looking glass-self: This is the way one thinks people perceive about him and not the 

way people actually see him. It is the perception of a person about how others 

perceive his qualities and characteristics. It is a social product, which emerges from 

face-to-face interaction with others from the very beginning of life. This interaction 

directs how others see him as an individual. 

d) 

Real Self: This is what one actually is. An individual self-image is confirmed when 

other persons response to him, indicate their beliefs about who and what he 

corresponds with. On the basis of feedback from environment, the person re-

evaluates himself and re-adjusts himself as per the expectation of others. Thus a 

balance should be maintained between real self and self-image. 

Thus self-concept plays a very important role in analyzing individual behaviour. It 

gives a sense of meaningfulness and consistency. On the basis of self-concept a person 

perceives a situation. 

 

5.  Social Learning Theory: This theory believes that personality development is a result 

of social variables. It emphasizes on conscious needs and wants of an individual. This 

theory uses “reinforcement and punishment approach” in understanding personality. 

It looks at personality as some total of all that a person has learned from outside 

 

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stimuli. There is mutual interaction between external environment and behaviour. For 

example- if an individual receives bad behaviour from society, the frustration causes 

and reinforces aggression as a personality trait. And if he receives good behaviour 

from people in terms of praise, this reinforces good behaviour. Learning can also 

occur from observation; we watch the behaviour of other people, draw observation 

about them and express our own behaviour. 

 

16.4 

PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS/ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCING 

BEHAVIOUR 

Personality is a set of relatively stable characteristics or dimensions of people that 

account for consistency in their behavior in various situations. Personality is a 

major determinant of what will be done and how it will be done in the job where 

most of the working day is spent in interacting with other people. In any 

organization every individual’s personality reveals how he work with superiors, 

subordinates and other people, how an individual adjust himself to a particular 

situation and how he reacts to the changes occurring in the existing jobs or on the 

new job. Some of the important personality factors or dimensions that determine 

what kind of performance will be achieved or what kind of behavior is exhibited 

at work are: 

 

 

PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  Self-Concept and Self-Esteem: Self-Concept is the way individuals define themselves 

as so who they are and drive their sense of identity. Self-esteem is the degree of 

respect; liking or disliking an individual has for him. It is a measure of self-

confidence and respect for one’s abilities and motivation. It denotes the extent to 

1.  Self-Concept and Self-Esteem 

2.  Authoritarianism 

3.  Need Patterns 

4.  Bureaucratic Personality 

5.  Machiavellianism 

6.  Tolerance for ambiguity 

7.  Locus of control 

8. Risk Taking

 

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which an individual regards himself as capable, successful, important and worthy. 

People with high self esteem are very friendly, affectionate, find it easy to form 

interpersonal attachment and find good in other people. They tend to take on more 

challenging assignment and contribute significantly to their organization if the 

organization rewards them suitably for their efforts. They are high performers. Low 

self-esteem people are usually critical of others, are generally depressed and blame 

others for their own failure. They contribute to poor performance, which in turn leads 

to low self-esteem. 

 

2.  Authoritarianism: A closely related term to authoritarian is “dogmatism” which refers 

to the rigidity of a person’s beliefs. Authoritarianism refers to blind acceptance of 

authority. Authoritarian people believe in obedience and respect for authority. They 

believe that there should be status and power differences among people in 

organization. The individual with high authoritarian personality is intellectually rigid, 

judgmental of others, deferential to those above and exploitative of those below, 

distrustful and resistant to change. They rightly adhere to conventional values, are 

conservative, endorse parental control for keeping the family together, are concerned 

with toughness and power, are close minded and are generally less educated. Where 

the job demands sensitivity to feelings of others, tact and ability to adapt the complex 

and changing situations, the persons with high-authoritarian personality would be 

negatively related to performance. 

 

3.  Need Patterns: Every individual have needs for achievement, affiliation, autonomy 

and dominance at work. People with : 

a)  High need for achievement engage themselves totally in work in order to feel proud 

about their achievements and success. 

b)  High need for affiliation work with great co-operation with others. 

c)  High need for autonomy prefers to work in the environment where the supervision is 

less. 

d)  High need for dominance is effective in an environment where they can enforce their 

legitimate authority. 

 

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4.  Bureaucratic Personality: This kind of persons has respect for rules and regulations. 

Thus, on this account it differentiates from authoritarian person whose respect for 

authority is blind. Bureaucratic persons are not innovative; even not ready to take risk 

and they keep themselves at ease while following other directions. They value 

subordination, rules, conformity, impersonal and formal relationship. In the routine 

and repetitive work they are better supervisors. 

 

5.  Machiavellianism: It refers to manipulation of others as a primary way of achieving 

one’s goals and gaining and keeping control of others. The extent to which an 

individual is Machiavellian is measured by Mach Scale. People with high score on 

mach scale have high self-confidence and self esteem. They are cool and calculating, 

logical in assessing the system around them. They have no hesitation in using others 

or taking advantage of others in order to serve their own goals, willing to twist and 

turn facts to influence others and try to gain control of people, event and situation by 

manipulating the system to their advantage. As they thoughtfully and logically 

approach their situation, they are skilled in influencing others. They are successful in 

exploiting structured situations and vulnerable people.  

 

6.  Tolerance for ambiguity: Because of rapid changes an individual have to work in an 

environment which is full of uncertainty. They should develop high level of tolerance 

for ambiguity. People or managers with high tolerance level of ambiguity can work 

effectively without much stress. But the people with low tolerance for ambiguity can 

work effectively in structured work setting but it is difficult for them to work in 

changed conditions. 

 

7.  Locus of control: It is the extent to which individual believe that they control their 

own lives or external forces control their lives. In other words, the degree to which 

people believe that they are masters of their own fate  

The individual with ‘internal locus of control’ believes that he is master of his 

own destiny. He believes that his internal traits determine what happens in a given 

 

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situation and he controls events concerning his own life. The person with this kind of 

personality seeks opportunities for advancement and relies more on their ability and 

judgement at work. The study proves that the persons with internal locus of control 

are highly confident. They use their own wisdom and energy while working on any 

projects.  

The individual with ‘external locus of control’ tends to believe that events occur 

purely by chance and because of the factors beyond their control. They feel that the 

outside forces are affecting the events in his life and the individual is at the mercy of 

destiny, chance or other people. The person with this kind of personality are generally 

in active and allow the events occur own their own.  

 

8.  Risk Taking: This shows the willingness of individual to take or avoid risk. It shows 

how long a manager take to make a decision and how much information he requires 

before taking a decision. High-risk taker takes rapid decision with less available 

information. The propensity to assume risk is dependent upon the nature of job. An 

accountant performing auditing activities should be risk averse; on the other hand in 

the expectation of higher return a high risk-taking propensity results high 

performance for a stock trader‘s brokerage firm. As a general saying is higher the 

risk, higher the return.  

 

16.5  PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT TESTS 

1.  Subjective Test: This includes interviews, observations, case studies etc. A person is 

interviewed and observed carefully to judge his capabilities and capacities. 

Sometimes a person is also judged with the help of case studies and autobiographies. 

The judgement and critical remarks about the case studies and autobiographies help in 

judging the personality of a person. 

 

2.  Objective Tests: It includes questionnaire, K.G. Aggregation etc. These kinds of tests 

give stress on the mental ability, capabilities rather than on personal appearance of a 

person. 

 

 

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3.  Projective Test: In this the test like WAT (Words Association Test) and TAT 

(Thematic Aptitude Test) are conducted. These tests play a major role in analyzing 

the personality of a person. These tests comprise of words and pictures. And the 

person is judged by his/her reaction to the picture and words. 

All these tests have been devised to assist the personality of the person in the most 

effective manner.  

 

16.6  SUMMARY 

Every individual possesses a unique set of traits and characteristics, which remain 

stable overtime. This uniqueness and consistency form the aspects of personality. 

It is the stability of these characteristics that sometimes assist in predicting 

behaviour of a given person. There are many factors like biological 

characteristics, family and social groups, cultural and social factor, which 

contributes towards formation of personality. An individual can be manifested in 

various forms like authoritarian personality, bureaucratic personality, 

Machiavellian personality and so on. There are many theories that are developed 

in predicting the behaviour of an individual on the basis of various attributes. 

Some tests are also designed for assessing the personality of an individual. 

 

16.7      SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 

1.  Define personality. How personality does relates to organizational behaviour? 

2.  Briefly describe the various theories of personality. 

3.  Give a brief account of the factors contributing personality. What are the various 

tests for assessing personality? 

4.  What are the various dimensions of personality that are related with interpersonal 

and organizational behaviour?  

 

16.8    SUGGESTED READINGS 

1.  Louis A. Allen, Management and Organization, McGraw-Hill Kogakusha, Ltd. 

2.  Jit S. Chandan, Organizational Behaviour, Vikas Publishing House. 

3.  Fred Luthans, Organizational Behaviour, McGraw-Hill. 

 

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4.  Stephens P. Robbins,” Organizational Behaviour”, Prentice-Hall India. 

5.  Laurie J. Mullins,” Management and Organizational Behaviour”, Pitman. 

6.  D. J. Levinson, ”A Conception of Adult Development”, American Psychologist, 

vol. 41. 

 

 

 

 

 

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PERCEPTION 

 

OBJECTIVE:

  

The motive of the lesson is to highlight the meaning, components 

and factors influencing the perception.  

STRUCTURE

: 

17.1 

Introduction 

17.2 

Definition of Perception 

17.3 

Components of Perception 

17.4 

Perception Models 

17.5 

Factors Influencing the Perception Process 

17.6 

Summary 

17.7 

Self-Test Questions 

17.8 

Suggested Readings 

 

17.1 INTRODUCTION 

 

The psychological processes that allow an individual to adjust his behaviour are 

called perception. The behaviour of an individual is inclined by his personality, 

motives and efforts. The behaviour and performance provides satisfaction to the 

employees who get stimulated to work more and develop his personality and work 

quality.  

17.2  DEFINITION OF PERCEPTION 

Perception may be defined as “a cognitive process by which people attend to 

incoming stimuli, organise and interpret such stimuli into behaviour”. Perception 

can also be defined as “a process by which individuals organise and interpret their 

COURSE: MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 

 

COURSE 

CODE: 

MC-101 

  AUTHOR: 

 

SURINDER 

 

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sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment”. The 

environment is a stimulus to influence behaviour, because the stimuli are 

attended, organised and interpreted to arrive at certain forms of behaviour. The 

sensory organs, i.e. eyes, nose, ears, skin and tongue, are used to change the 

stimuli into behaviour through their attention, recognition and interpretation 

processes. Individuals do not accept the information or stimuli unless they are 

evaluated and interpreted by the mental processing system. Individuals attend to 

the stimuli, recognise and translate them into meaningful information, which 

inspire them to act and perform the job. These processes are known as perpetual 

process. When employees get satisfaction through their performance, either by 

meeting their physical or mental needs, they perceive the organisation in the right 

perspective. It helps them understand the functions and achieve satisfaction. 

17.3 COMPONENTS 

OF 

PERCEPTION 

Perception is a process of sensory organs. The mind gets 

information through the five sense organs, viz. the eyes, ears, 

nose, tongue and skin. The stimulation coming to these organs 

may be through action, written messages, oral communication, 

odour, taste, touch of the product and people. The perception 

starts with the awareness of these stimuli. Recognising these 

stimuli takes place only after paying attention to them. These 

messages are then translated into action and behaviour.