96 Chapter3 Individual Differencesand Assessment TABLE 3.1 The Five-Factor Model FACTOR REPRESENTATIVE OR TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS 1.Conscentiousness Responsible.persistent.planful,achievement onented 2.Extraversion Sociable,assertive,talkative energetic 3.Agreeableness Cooperative,trusting.likable.frendly 4.Emotional stability Secure,calm,poised relaxed 5.Openness to experence Curious,imaginative,independent.creative S:Based o储0gman(1990 the model identifies five different components that,when taken together,give a fair repre- sentation of how a person typically responds to events and people(see Table 3.1).Consider- able evidence suggests that although the five factors might express themselves in slightly different ways in various cultures,the FFM seems applicable across cultures(Cheung.2004). It is important to keep in mind that personality factors are intended to measure normal personality,not to identify any evidence of psychopathology.We will make that distinction clearer later in this chapter when we discuss how personality is measured.Of the five FFM Conscientiousness Quality factors,the first to attract attention from I-O psychologists was conscientiousness.More recently,extraversion,openness to experience,and agreeableness have also been attracting and carrying them out with increased attention (Barrick Mount,2005).In some early research,Barrick and Mount (1991)proposed,on the basis of a meta-analysis,that conscientiousness was likely positively related to success in all aspects of work for all occupations.That was a strong statement,but it was supported by their analyses.Naturally,there were disagreements with the five-factor taxonomy and with the presumed overarching importance of conscientiousness.The first criticism was that five factors were too few to capture the full range of aspects of personality (Hough,1992;Tellegen Waller,2000).The second criticism was that although conscien- tiousness might be correlated with a wide range of work behaviors,it was not highly corre- lated with them.In addition,extraversion often correlated as highly with behavior as did conscientiousness.A third criticism was that there were combinations of the five factors that led to greater predictive power than any one of the factors by itself(Ones,Viswesvaran, Schmidt,1993).The first and third criticisms present an interesting dilemma,since one argues for more factors,whereas the other seems to be arguing for fewer factors. It does,however,appear that there are more than the originally proposed five factors. Roberts and colleagues (2005)argue that conscientiousness can be broken down further into three "subfactors"(industriousness,order,and self-control).Roberts and Mroczek (2008)suggest that extraversion can be further broken down into gregariousness and asser. tiveness.Ashton,Lee,and de Vries(2014)propose that the dimension of "honesty"needs to be added to the FFM.Some evidence indicates can provide incremental validity above cognitive ability and FFM traits in predicting some aspects of work performance (Oh et al., 2014).We believe that there is still valuable work to be done in identifying "the"relevant parameters of the personality at work,and the FFM represents a very useful starting point. No one seems to disagree that the FFM contains the minimum number of relevant person- ality characteristics;the debate seems to be about the optimum number. What seems to be true is that,although each of the five broad personality factors does predict successful (in contrast to unsuccessful)performance of certain behaviors,some Scanned by CamScanner
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3.2 Human Attributes combinations of the factors may be stronger predictors than any single factor.This intro duces the idea of a functional personality at work(Barrick,Mount,Judge,2001).mean Functional persomality ing that not just one factor predicts success,but a combination of factors.For example.Ones 其work The w背han and colleagues (1993)found that individuals who were high on conscientiousness,agreea- ndidual behavet,handies bleness,and emotional stability tended to have higher integrity.In this context,integrity means being honest.reliable,and ethical.Dunn (1993)found that managers believed that a aebinati铺dee combination of conscientiousness,agreeableness,and emotional stability made applicants tacton more attractive to managers who had hiring responsibilities.In a review of meta-analyses. Agreeableness Likable. Barrick and colleagues (2001)confirmed the importance of conscientiousness across a vari- 可能纳gwh ety of occupations and performance measures.Emotional stability also appeared to predict overall performance across occupations.Judge and Erez(2007)found that a combination of high emotional stability and high extraversion(which they labeled a"happy"or "buoyant" Emetional stability personality)led to higher performance for employees and supervisors at a health and fitness own时esame em0tona center.In another meta-analysis,Clarke and Robertson(2005)found that low agreeableness. high extraversion.and low conscientiousness were related to accidents,both in occupational and traffic situations They suggested that individuals low on agreeableness have more dif. ficulty managing interpersonal relations,including following group safety norms. ntegrity Qualty时beng Other meta-analyses also reveal relationships between the FFM and job performance. both in the United States (Hurtz Donovan,2000)and in Europe (Salgado,1997,1998). The latter series of meta-analyses suggest that,at least for many European countries,culture may not be a moderator variable of the personality/performance relationship.More recent research suggests that personality is a critical predictor for work behavior in Germany (Moser Galais.2007).Australia(Carless et al,2007),Thailand(Smithikrai,2007),and the Netherlands (Klehe Anderson,2007a).Nevertheless,remember from Chapter I (Hofstede,2001)that cultural influences can be substantial and that substantial differences exist between Western and Asian cultures.As examples,Tyler and Newcombe (2006)show that additional personality characteristics such as "face,""graciousness versus meanness. and"thrift versus extravagance"might be necessary to describe the Chinese work personal- ity.The importance of face (as in "to avoid losing face")had been shown in earlier studies of Chinese students and managers by Cheung and colleagues(2001).It is tempting to recall the dramatic example from Chapter I of the Chinese manager who hanged himself,possi. bly because of a loss of face.Much more research on the nature of the non-Western work personality is in order.As suggested by the work of McCrae,Terracciano,and colleagues (2005),there is reason to expect that significant differences in work personality will be found in Asian societies as compared to Europe or the United States,if for no other reason than the emphasis on group outcomes over individual outcomes in the collectivist cultures of China and Japan. Implications of Broad Personality Models There is some debate about whether or not to use broad or narrow personality dimensions in predicting job performance (Hogan Roberts,1996:Ones Viswesvaran.1996; Schneider.Hough.Dunnette,1996).When I-O psychologists discuss broad personality dimensions,they are referring to conscientiousness and other FFM dimensions.When they discuss narrow traits,they are referring to subfactors of the FFM dimensions,such as achievement and dependability.which are subfactors of conscientiousness.It turns out that narrow traits are useful for predicting very specific job behaviors (Dudley.Orvis. Lebeicki,Cortina.2006)and broader traits for predicting broader behaviors (Tett, Steele,Beauregard,2003).Each has its own use. As we will see in Chapter 4.I-O psychology is becoming more specific in discussions of performance outcomes.Thirty years ago,most research and discussions would have Scanned by CamScanner
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Chapter3 Individual Dfferencesand Assessment addressed the issue of "overall performance."Now discussion of performance incudes spe- cific aspects of work behavior such as citizenship behavior (eg.volunteering.persisting). technical task performance,adaptive performance (adjusting to technical or procedural unpredictability in the work context),and counterproductive work performance.As it becomes more common to break down work performance into more discrete categories. narrower personality characteristics may begin to show their value over broad dimensions such as those represented by the FFM. There is a final aspect of the research on personality and work behavior that deserves discussion.Have you ever had a job in which you were closely supervised and required to follow very detailed work and organizational procedures?In that environment,you would have had little opportunity to show your"habitual way of responding"(ie,your personal. ity).Think of the opposite situation-a job where you had a good deal of control over your work habits.In the latter,you could really be "you,"and whether you performed well or poorly probably depended on how well your personality was suited to the job's demands. That is exactly what Barrick and Mount(1993)found with their research on the FFM.In jobs where the employee had a great deal of control (ie.,autonomy),personality was much more predictive of performance than in jobs where the employee had little or no control. Thus,control moderated the relationship between personality and performance.In statisti. cal terms,control would be called a "moderator variable"-a variable that changes the nature of the relationship between two other variables.It has been commonly found that if a situation does not allow the person much discretion(referred to as a"strong"situation), personality will play a minor role in his or her behavior. To summarize what we know about the relationship between personality and work behavior,we believe the following conclusions can be drawn with confidence 1. Personality differences play an important role in work behavior independent of the role played by cognitive ability (Mount Barrick,1995:KR Murphy,1996). 2 Personality is more closely related to motivational aspects of work (e.g..effort expenditure)than to technical aspects of work (e.g.knowledge components). Personality is more likely to predict what a person will do,and ability measures are more likely to predict what a person can do (Campbell,1990a;Mount Barrick,1995). The FFM is a good general framework for thinking about important aspects of per- sonality (Digman,1990;Guion,1998;Lubinski,2000). of hard work,penistmnce 4 nder每向g0od The more relevant and specific the work behavior we are trying to predict,the werk. stronger the association between personality and behavior (Mount Barrick,1995). Conscientiousness is best considered a combination of achievement and dependa- Dependability Afacet af bility.Achievement will predict some behaviors (e.g.,effort)and dependability will conscientiousness consistng of bein间dinsciplined.well predict other behaviors (e.g.,attendance)(Hough.1992:Moon.2001:Mount oeganized nespectf eflam Barrick.1995:Stewart,1999). and requlatiens honest 6 Conscientiousness has widespread applicability in work settings.It is possibly the tust海n时Kptg most important personality variable in the workplace,and it may be the equivalent ofauthority of "g"in the noncognitive domain (Schmidt Hunter,1992). ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES The collection of cognitive abilities,physical and motor abilities,personality,and interests cover the major categories of proposed individual differences.The patterns formed by their combinations describe much of the variation among individuals.Nevertheless,some scien- tists propose additional aspects of individual differences. Scanned by CamScanner
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3.2 Human Attributes 99 Skills Skills are practiced acts.Shooting a basketball,using a computer keyboard,and persuad- Skills Practiced acts.such ing someone to buy something are all examples of skills.They come with hours,days,and 然heen间basketbal weeks of practice.Skills also depend on certain abilities (eye-hand coordination.or mem- ing a computer heyboard persaadng someone to ory,or reasoning),personality characteristics(persistence or agreeableness),and knowl- 可s0hg edge (understanding the controls that activate a piece of equipment).Although skills depend on these other factors,the reason we call them skills is that they develop through practice.Technical and job-related skills are as varied as jobs and job tasks.There are other nontechnical skills that are more widespread than any technical skill.Examples include negotiating skills,communication skills,and conflict resolution skills.These three are often lumped together by nonpsychologists and called people skills.Since they come into play Peaple skillsA most commonly in situations involving leader-follower and team member interactions,we technical term that will discuss them in the chapters that deal with teams and leadership. ndudes negotiating sl Knowledge Knowledge can be defined as "a collection of discrete but related facts and information about a particular domain.It is acquired through formal education or training,or accumu- lated through specific experiences"(Peterson,Mumford,Borman,Jeanneret,Fleishman, 1999,p.71).Many cities known for tourism (e.g.,London,New York City)require taxi drivers to complete map tests demonstrating intricate knowledge of streets and areas. Recently,Philadelphia considered an ordinance that would require licensing of tour guides with particular attention to knowledge of the city's history (Associated Press,2007). Knowledge is closely connected to skill when we are considering job-related skills (as opposed to psychomotor skills like shooting a basketball).Knowledge supports skill devel- opment,and it comes in many varieties.It can be very basic (knowledge of mathematical operations or of vocabulary),or it can be sophisticated(knowledge of computer circuitry). Representative categories of knowledge as identified in the comprehensive Occupational Network (0"NET) Information Network that has come to be known as O'NET are too detailed to present Colectionofelectronic here,but they can be found in Peterson,Mumford,and Colleagues (1999).The O'NET databaset,based on devrloped tamnomies system,which is described further in Chapter 4,presents the name of the knowledge hgh时pdated and domain,the definition of the knowledge,and examples of what someone with a great deal eated the Dictionaryo or very little of the knowledge might be capable of doing.Perhaps the most immediate example of individual differences in knowledge is the distribution of test grades in your Tacit knowledge Action class.Although many variables may play a role in this grade distribution,one of those vari- oented goal-deected ables is certainly knowledge of the course material as presented in the text and lectures. inewiedge,acqured without Another kind of knowledge that has been proposed is called tacit knowledge,studied by ct hel电rom othe: Sternberg and his colleagues(Sternberg.Wagner,Okagaki,1993).They distinguish cosquially called street between "academic"and "tacit"knowledge,the latter described as"action oriented knowl- 4在 edge,acquired without direct help from others,that allows individuals to achieve goals they Procedural knowledge personally value"(Sternberg.Wagner,Williams,Horvath,1995).They describe tacit familianty with a procedure knowledge as "knowing how"rather than "knowing that."Box 3.3 provides a practical example of tacit knowledge.A more formal way of distinguishing these two types of Decarative knowledge knowledge is procedural knowledge(knowing how)in contrast to declarative knowledge Undentanding what is (knowing that).Rapp,Ahearne,Mathieu,and Schillewart(2006)found that pharmaceuti- equred to perfom a tasl. cal sales representatives work harder when they have high levels of declarative knowledge knwing inormation abouta but lower levels of experience(which would eventually lead to procedural knowledge). jtask. Scanned by CamScanner
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100 Chapter3 Individual Differences and Assessment BOX 3.3 AN EXAMPLE OF TACIT KNOWLEDGE A postal worker gets on an elevator in a 25-story to the elevator,pushes the down button,and reent- building and pushes the button for the 18th floor. ers the elevator she just left making its way down Just before exiting the elevator at that floor,she from the 25th floor.She has learned that if she pushes the button for the 25th floor,puzzling does not follow this routine,the elevator may not those left on the elevator who are going no higher go to the 25th floor and she may have to wait than the 21st floor.The postal worker drops off several minutes for another elevator to travel up mail and picks up mail from a central location the 18 floors to retrieve her.This is tacit knowl- on the 18th floor in less than 60 seconds,returns edge at its finest. These researchers give an example of how tacit knowledge about getting along with your boss might affect your behavior.If you need to deliver bad news,and you have reason to believe your boss is in a bad mood,tacit knowledge would tell you that it would be best to deliver the bad news later.A common nonscientific term for tacit knowledge is "street smarts."One of the important distinctions researchers make between formal or academic knowledge on the one hand and tacit knowledge on the other is that tacit knowledge is always goal-directed and useful.while academic knowledge may not be.People develop tacit knowledge about environments and processes that are personally valuable to them. Research suggests that tacit knowledge is something above and beyond intelligence (Sternberg et al.,1995).Learning little tricks to perform better might be considered the light side of the tacit knowledge coin,and learning how to manipulate people might be the dark side.Knowledge,particularly tacit knowledge,is often thought to accumulate as a result of experience. Competencies 1-O psychologists talk about combinations of knowledge,skills,abilities,and other person. Competencies Setsof ality characteristics (KSAOs)in terms of competencies.Kurz and Bartram(2002)have behaviors ualy leamed by defined competencies assets of behaviors that are instrumental in the delivery of desired 以pe程nc味hte instrumentaln the results or outcomes"(p.229).Following from that definition,it is reasonable to assume that accomplishmentofd people differ in the extent to which they possess various competencies.But competencies anto are different from knowledge-or a skill,ability,or personality characteristic-in that a outcomes. competency is really a collection of all of these specific individual difference characteristics. The essence of a competency is the combination of these characteristics and is not domi- nated by any one of them (Campion et al.,2011). Competencies are unique in another way as well.Abilities can be defined and measured in the abstract,as can personality characteristics.But competencies only have meaning in the context of organizational goals.For example,you could distinguish between two individuals based on their measured conscientiousness,their reasoning ability,or their skill with a word-processing program.But the competency of organizing and executing a Scanned by CamScanner
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