Category Archives: Personality

How Guilt Leads to Organizational Commitment (IO Psychology)

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Topic: Personality, Organizational Commitment
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (JAN 2012)
Article: When Feeling Bad Leads to Feeling Good: Guilt-Proneness and Affective Organizational Commitment
Authors: F.J. Flynn, R.L. Schaumberg
Reviewed By: Ben Sher

Is it good to be guilty? If you have just been accused of being a lousy tipper, being a nosy neighbor, or stealing candy from an actual baby, then the answer is unequivocally no. But if instead we’re referring to a personality type that is generally prone to feeling guilty, then it may be good after all. New research by Flynn and Schaumberg (2012) has surprisingly found that guilt-prone people feel more organizational commitment.

Organizational commitment, which is when employees emotionally identify with an employer, has long been studied by IO psychologists. Researchers have traditionally argued that “good” moods typically lead to higher levels of organizational commitment and “bad” moods lead to lower levels of organizational commitment. This study argues that sometimes “bad” moods or personality characteristics actually strengthen the emotional connection to an employer. Specifically, employees who are prone to feelings of guilt in response to failure had higher levels of organizational commitment in both a lab and field study.

So what explains this finding? The authors found that guilt-prone employees feel especially bad when they have experienced setbacks or failures. In order to make up for these shortcomings, these employees put more effort into their work. Once employees invest extra effort into their work, they then rationalize this extra effort by experiencing higher levels of organizational commitment. This supports research that has found that levels of commitment may be influenced by how much effort an employee has already expended. Although this seems backwards, the authors say that people sometimes make sense of how they feel after observing and interpreting their previous behavior.

Does this mean that we should look for guilt-prone people to hire? Not necessarily, say the authors. There is still much to learn about the possible costs and benefits of people with this personality. For example, although guilt-prone people make greater effort, they may also make too much effort and be liable to burnout. Still, this study should make us
think twice about the effectiveness of people with so-called “bad” moods.

Flynn, F.J. & Schaumberg, R.L. (2012). When Feeling Bad Leads to Feeling Good: Guilt-Proneness and Affective Organizational Commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1), 124-133.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

 

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Tips for Getting Tips (IO Psychology)

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Topic: Job Performance, Personality, Training
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (NOV 2011)
Article: Want a Tip? Service Performance as a Function of Emotion Regulation
and Extraversion
Authors: N. Chi, A.A. Grandey, J.A. Diamond, K.R. Krimmel
Reviewed By: Ben Sher

Your restaurant server is quite the professional!  He manages a genuine, warm smile despite his impending apartment eviction, recurring car-transmission problems, and the fact that his favorite football team just lost in the playoffs.  But to pull that off, your server had to perform something called emotional labor, a crucial topic of interest to IO Psychologists.  New research by Chi, Grandey, Diamond, and Krimmel (2011) has found that certain emotional labor strategies are more useful than others, and that sometimes it depends on the type of person using these strategies.

The authors discuss two major strategies for performing emotional labor.  The first is called surface acting.  This is when employees fake the desired emotions even when those emotions don’t accurately reflect how they feel inside.  The other strategy is called deep acting.  This is when employees actually change their inner feelings to the desired state by focusing on past experiences.  For example, an employee who is in a bad mood might try thinking hard about a time when he was in a happy mood, causing him to project a display of authentic happiness to his customers.

But the two strategies do not always lead to similar results.  The researchers found that deep acting by restaurant servers will lead to them receiving more tips and exceeding customer expectations.  In a separate study involving simulated call-center employees, the researchers found that deep acting leads to an overall better emotional performance, meaning it is more convincing to the customers.  They also discovered that deep acting also leads employees to perform extra-role behaviors, meaning tasks that are not strictly part of someone’s job description but are nevertheless important.  The authors explain that deep acting puts employees in a good mood, which makes them more likely to do extra work.

But what about surface acting?  The researchers found that surface acting leads to receiving more tips, but only when used by extraverted, outgoing employees.  When introverted employees tried surface acting, their overall emotional performance became worse, and was not as convincing to the customers.  Specifically, this was true when the introverted employees performed extra-role behaviors.  The authors explain that “faking it” strategies like surface acting are particularly exhaustive to introverts, and while introverts may be able to “fake it” while performing their typical duties, their emotional resources may become depleted when asked to perform extra-role behaviors.

The implications of these findings are important for training in any industry that requires contact with customers.  Clearly, deep acting is a useful approach to dealing with the demands of emotional labor, and should be the preferred method endorsed during employee training.  Surface acting may be an alternative method that works when deep acting is not possible or inconvenient, but only for naturally extraverted employees.

Chi, N., Grandey, A.A., Diamond, J.A., & Krimmel K.R. (2011). Want a Tip? Service Performance as a Function of Emotion Regulation and Extraversion. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(6), 1237-1346.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

 

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How Much Do Pronouns Matter Anyway? (IO Psychology)

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Topic: Personality
Publication: Harvard Business Review
Article: Your use of pronouns reveals your personality
Author: Pennebaker, J.
Reviewed by: Liz Brashier

Do function words – words like pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions – matter? And if so, what do they tell us?  James Pennebaker, chair of the Psychology department at the University of Texas at Austin, has spent a considerable amount of time investigating those exact questions.  In a recent Harvard Business Review IdeaWatch, we get to learn more about Pennebaker’s research, and what it might mean for us.

These function words matter for several reasons.  With over 500 in the English language, and 55% of our spoken and written language composed of them, they express the real meat of our communication.  They get at our ideas, help us shape our language and understand connections, and reveal key information about a speaker’s emotions, age, or socioeconomic background.  According to Pennebaker, people who lie tend to use negation words much more often, and people who are are depressed use the pronoun “I” at a much higher rate than do non-depressed people.

You might be wondering what this means for an organization.  In a job interview, listening to function words might prove helpful in securing a better fit.  For example, in a position in which decisiveness is needed, listening for a candidate who avoids “I think” and speaks more assertively could be helpful.  And as for gender differences, women are more tuned in to their own internal states, indicated by a greater use of first-person and possessive pronouns, like “I” or “mine.”  Men tend to talk about objects more often, as is evident in a greater use of “a,” “an,” and “the.”

So the next time an employer or client asks you about the weather, work on appearing more confident – it’s as simple as saying  “it’s cold outside” instead of “I think it’s cold.”

Pennebaker, J. (2011). Your use of pronouns reveals your personality. Harvard Business Review, 89, 32-33.

human resource management,organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

 

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Leadership

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         The Predictive Power of Grit: How to Select Successful People

Topic: Leadership, Personality
Publication: The Leadership Quarterly (JUN 2011)
Article: Leader development and the dark side of personality
Authors: Harms, P. D., Spain, S. M., & Hannah, S. T.
Reviewed by: Alexandra Rechlin

Recent research suggests that some positive personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness) are related to leadership outcomes. But what about the “dark side” of personality? In other words, what about subclinical traits (traits that fall between “normal” and what would be considered a personality disorder)?

Harms, Spain, and Hannah (2011) studied subclinical (“dark side”) traits and their effect on leader development in West Point cadets. They found that development did occur, with all twelve leader development dimensions increasing over the three-year time period. Subclinical traits had an effect on the rate of leader development, but the nature of that effect was mixed. Some traits (skeptical, imaginative) were negatively related to leader development, while others (cautious, bold, colorful, dutiful) were positively related to leader development.

These results suggest that we should not see all “dark side” traits at being completely bad; in terms of leader development, some seem to help and others seem to hurt. In addition, this study provides further evidence that leadership develops over a long period of time, and personality explains much of that change. Therefore, personality assessments that go beyond the Big Five (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) would be useful as part of leadership development programs.

Harms, P. D., Spain, S. M., & Hannah, S. T. (2011). Leader development and the dark side of personality. The Leadership Quarterly, 22, 495-509. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.04.007

human resource management,organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

Predicting CWBs: Have We Been Measuring the Wrong Things?

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Topic: Counter-Productive Work Behavior, Personality
Publication: Personnel Psychology, 64, 2 (Summer 2011)
Article: Reconsidering the Dispositional Basis of Counterproductive Work Behavior: The Role of Aberrant Personality
Authors: Wu, J. & Lebreton, J. M.
Reviewed By: Thaddeus Rad

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) remains a heavily-researched area in I-O psychology. CWBs can take a variety of forms, from relatively minor acts of workplace theft to dramatic outbursts of workplace violence. Regardless of who they target or how severe they might be, CWBs are always a negative phenomenon, and organizations have a vested interest in predicting the likelihood that employees (or applicants) might engage in these behaviors. Traditionally, work linking personality characteristics to CWBs has been done using common personality frameworks, such as the Big 5. However, previous research has generated mixed findings in terms of how well these “common” personality traits predict CWBs.  As such, Wu and Lebreton suggest that it may be more effective to attempt to predict an individual’s likelihood of engaging in CWBs by measuring aberrant personality profiles. In their paper, Wu and Lebreton theoretically examine the links between CWBs and a number of aberrant personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

With an eye towards future research, the authors posit a number of hypotheses about the link between these three aberrant personality profiles and CWBs, including that individuals high in narcissism would be particularly likely to perceive hostile behaviors from others, and that primary psychopaths would engage in more thoroughly-planned CWBs.

The title of this review is posed as a question, and at least for now, it remains an open question. However, this appears to be a fruitful area for research. There is no doubt that CWBs remain a topic of great importance to organizations, and in this author’s opinion, the potential that measuring aberrant personality features has for improving prediction of CWBs is well worth exploring.

Wu, J. & Lebreton, J. M. (2011). Reconsidering the dispositional basis of counterproductive work behavior: The role of aberrant personality. Personnel Psychology, 64, 593-626.

 

 

Who is More Likely to Change Careers?

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Topic: Personality

Publication: Journal of Vocational Behavior (2011)

Article: A longitudinal study of the determinants and outcomes of career change.

Authors: S. A. Carless & J. L. Arnup

Reviewed by: Charleen Maher

 Directions It’s no secret that we’re currently experiencing some rough economic times. Consequently, the job market is unstable and people are seeking additional education and training in an effort to prepare for career changes.  A career change is defined as moving to a different occupation or profession and often requires costly additional training and results in lost time and income. So what leads an individual down the path of a new career and what happens after a career change has occurred?

Using longitudinal data, the current study explored several predictors and outcomes of career change.  In terms of personality, individuals high in openness to experience and extraversion were more likely to change careers. In addition, younger individuals and males were more likely to change careers than older individuals or females. When it comes to human capital, individuals with more education, less occupational tenure, and a lack of job security were also more likely to change careers. Not surprisingly, thoughts about quitting and job search behavior were solid predictors of career change.

The current study also found that although not a significant predictor of career change, job satisfaction does improve after an individual changes careers; perceptions of job security also improved in the new career. Finally, higher salary expectations were not related to career change and salary increases were not found among individuals who changed careers.

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Waging WARS on Workplace Arrogance

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Topic: Performance, Personality, Self Efficacy

Publication: Human Performance

Article: Acting superior but actually inferior?: Correlates and consequences of workplace arrogance

Authors: R.E. Johnson, S.B. Silverman, A. Shyamsunder, H-Y Swee, O.B. Rodopman, E. Cho, and J. Bauer

Reviewed By: Benjamin Granger 

Insights_employees It’s probably safe to say that we’ve all had to work with an arrogant coworker or supervisor at one time in our careers.  It’s also probably safe to say that these run-ins have been unpleasant and disruptive to our work.  Yet, while we arm-chair our theories about the effects of arrogance in the workplace, very little research is available to confirm (or disconfirm) our assumptions and anecdotal evidence.  That is, surprisingly little is known about the consequences of workplace arrogance and its relationship with job performance.

In an effort to facilitate research on workplace arrogance, Johnson et al. (2010) created a scale to measure workplace arrogance (the Workplace Arrogance Scale) with a conveniently clever acronym: WARS.  The authors conducted 4 independent studies to validate their newly created scale and explore the consequences of workplace arrogance.  According to the authors, arrogant employees have exaggerated perceptions of their self-importance and superiority.  At work, arrogant employees may manifest these inflated self-perceptions by discounting others’ ideas/contributions, belittling coworkers, asserting control even in situations beyond their area of expertise, etc. 

Johnson et al.’s findings point to a fascinating trend: while arrogant employees engage in behaviors that exude superiority, they actually appear to be less intelligent and receive lower performance ratings than employees who are less arrogant. 

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Exhausted Employees? They May be Reacting to Your Goal-Oriented Leadership

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Topic: Employee Satisfaction, Culture, Personality

Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (NOV 2010)

Article: The Downside of Goal-Focused Leadership: The Role of Personality in Subordinate Exhaustion

Authors: S.J. Perry, L.A. Witt, L.M. Penney, and L. Atwater

Reviewed By: Mary Alice Crowe-Taylor

Images The heart of goal-focused leadership (GFL) is to elicit goal-oriented behavior from employees by emphasizing goal achievement. In theory, GFL should contribute to employee’s resources for handling stress at work by clarifying goals, suggesting ways to achieve goals, structuring tasks and verifying attainment. However, depending on the employee’s personality, this emphasis on goal achievement may or may not be perceived as supportive.

In employees who are less conscientious (less achievement oriented), can GFL cause exhaustion? Yes, if these employees also have low emotional stability. That is, if they are more often distracted by worry and are prone to pessimism. Inherently, these employees have the least “resources” to assist them, and goal-focused leadership may produce exhaustion, through an inability to cope with the stress demands.

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Wanted: Employees with High Work Locus of Control

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Topic: Personality, Job Attitudes

Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (JUL 2010)

Article: A Meta-Analytic Examination of
Work and General Locus of Control

Authors: Wang, Q., Bowling, N. A. &
Eschleman, K. J.

Reviewed
By: Rachel Marsh

 


Tn-lc Locus of
control is a personality trait that effects how a person views life.  If a person has an internal locus of
control; they believes their rewards and punishments occur because of choices
they made.  If one has an external locus of control, they believe rewards
and punishments are controlled by outside forces, people or fate.  General
locus of control refers to one’s life, but people also have a work locus of
control, and a person’s work locus of control has an effect on one’s attitude
about one’s job.

In the
current article Wang, and associates analyzed 184 research articles that tested
locus of control.  They suggest
that work locus and general locus of control are different constructs – just
because you have an internal general locus of control does not mean you have an
internal work locus of control – and they have different effects on a person’s
work performance.  Participants who had higher levels of internal work
locus of control had higher levels of job commitment, job satisfaction, job
performance and leadership initiation as well as lower levels of burnout,
absenteeism, psychological strain, and role ambiguity versus people with high general
internal locus of control. 

The results
suggest that employers should remind employees that they are in control of
their destiny within the company.  Reward programs might also be
implemented to recompense employees who have performed above and beyond the
expectations of their job, to again remind employees that their actions affect
them.       

Wang,
Q., Bowling, N. A. & Eschleman, K. J.  (2010).  A meta-analytic
examination of work and general locus of control.  Journal of applied
Psychology, 95,  761-768.

Maximizing the Predictive Power of Personality Measures

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Topic: Assessment, Personality

Publication: International Journal of Selection
and Assessment (JUN)

Article: Improving prediction of work
performance through frame-of-reference consistency: Empirical evidence using
openness to experience

Authors: V.L. Pace and M.T. Brannick

Reviewed By: Benjamin Granger


Images-3 Although measures of personality are
fairly common in employee selection and assessment contexts, research suggests
that measures of various personality characteristics tend to be less predictive
of job performance than other common selection go-to’s (e.g., cognitive ability
tests, technical work sample tests). 
Typically, items on personality measures ask job applicants/employees to
report on how they are/act in general, across many different contexts (e.g.,
home, work, school). 

But, Pace and Brannick recently
found that by simply framing personality items to fit the work context, one can
improve the predictive power of the personality measure.  In their study, Pace and Brannick
selected the personality characteristic of openness to experience which is not as commonly studied in
selection and assessment contexts as personality characteristics such as
conscientiousness.  Nevertheless,
openness to experience may be very important for jobs that require high levels
of creativity and novel problem solving.

Using a sample of 83 employees from
various industries, Pace and Brannick compared the predictive power of a common
openness to experience measure (NEO PI-R) and one that they created which
specifically addresses employees’ tendencies at work.  Their results suggest that their work-focused measure of
openness to experience was much more strongly related to supervisor ratings of
employees’ creative performance than the general measure.  

Pace and Brannick’s findings suggest
personality measures that focus specifically on the workplace may predict work
performance better than more general measures of personality for which the
frame-of-reference is “all the time” as opposed to “at work”.  From a practical perspective, this
makes sense since how we generally behave or are at work can be quite different
from how we behave or tend to be in other contexts.

Pace,
V.L. & Brannick, M.T. (2010). Improving prediction of work performance through
frame-of-reference consistency: Empirical evidence using openness to
experience. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 18(2), 230-235.