Personality and Individual
Behavior in Organizations

January 27

Psychology 360
Outline
•	I. Key aspects of personality
•	II. Variables of personality
•	III. Relating personality to behavior
•	IV. Ethics of personality evaluation
Key Aspects of Personality
•	Uniqueness:
–	dispositions make you special
•	Consistency:
–	your dispositions are enduring
Variables of Personality
•	Traits:
–	stable patterns of behavior over time
•	Motives
–	stable patterns of goals over time
•	Cognitions
–	stable ways of thinking
Relating Personality to 
Behavior
•	Claim:
–	 your traits determine your behaviors
•	Organizational goal:
–	 to know which traits produce desirable    behaviors
•	Debate:
–	what determines behavior? 
–	personality dispositions vs. situational factors
Example: Characters from “Seinfeld”
•	Individuals with different patterns of traits
Jerry
low on neuroticism
high on extraversion
George
high on neuroticism
low on agreeableness
low on conscientiousness
Kramer
high on neuroticism
low on conscientiousness
high on openness to experience
Elaine
high on extraversion
Ethics of Personality
Evaluation
•	Tests:
–	objective (NEO-PI)
–	projective (TAT)
•	Two issues:
–	reliability
–	validity
Copyright © 1996, The Regents of the University of Michigan, All rights reserved.
Revised - November 4, 1996