Assignment on Individual Differences

Work Psychology

Submitted By:Harshit JainBatch: Spring Summer 12-14Section: SSH1IIPM, New DelhiEmail id: harshit.jain90@gmail.com

Individual differences with respect to personality traits and cognitive

behaviours with respect to work Performance

Individual Difference

It is often said that no two individuals are same. They differ from each other in some way or

the other. Such a similarity or difference between persons reveals individual differences. It

happens in our day-to-day life when we see people around us. A question comes to mind;

how and why people appear similar or different to each other. For example when we think

about their psychological characteristics we often come across people who are very talkative

or less talkative, some laugh too much whereas others take much time even to smile, some

are very friendly whereas some prefer to be alone. In psychology, these are called individual

differences referring to the extent and kind of variations or similarities among people on

some of the important psychological aspects such as intelligence, personality, interest, and

aptitude.

1. Individual Difference with respect to Personality trait with respect to Work

Performance

Personality is a relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that have been

significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors. The personality traits often

influence the performance at work. This has been explained through the “The Big

Five Personality Model” and how these influence the performance of an individual at

work.

Openness to experience: Openness reflects the degree of intellectual

curiosity, creativity and a preference for novelty and variety a person has. It is

described as the extent to which a person is imaginative or independent, and

depicts a personal preference for a variety of activities over a strict routine.

An open person always brings about innovative ideas to solve a problem and

learn from the experiences. In this way, these learning help him to perform

well in the job and also motivate him/her towards job which results in better

performance. On the other hand, People with low scores on openness tend to

have more conventional, traditional interests. They prefer the plain,

straightforward, and obvious over the complex, ambiguous, and subtle. A

closed person never tries to bring about innovative ideas and perform his

duties in monotony which make him/her dissatisfy with the job and hence the

performance declines.

Conscientiousness: It is a tendency to be organized and dependable, show

self-discipline, act dutifully, aim for achievement, and prefer planned rather

than spontaneous behaviour. . It is related to the way in which people control,

regulate, and direct their impulses. High scores on conscientiousness indicate

a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behaviour. The average level

of conscientiousness rises among young adults and then declines among older

adults. Hence people who plan their strategy and goals perform well but

sometimes spontaneous actions are required to solve a particular problem.

The spontaneous actions might also result in better performance in handling

disputes.

Extraversion: It is characterized by breadth of activities, surgency from

external activity/situations, and energy creation from external means. The trait

is marked by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts

enjoy interacting with people, and are often perceived as full of energy. They

tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals. They possess high group

visibility, like to talk, and assert themselves. The socialisation influences the

performance of individual as they always work in group and coordinate with

the group members. Hence these kinds of people are assigned the jobs related

to team work and jobs requiring interactions like CRM. Introverts have lower

social engagement and energy levels than extraverts. They tend to seem quiet,

low-key, deliberate, and less involved in the social world. Their lack of social

involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or depression instead they

are more independent of their social world than extraverts. Introverts are

assigned with the individual task or projects and are often offered work

related to desk projects. Introverts always focus on their individual

performance and not likely to work in group and hence are not influenced by

the performance of others whereas extraverts often link their performance

with the group.

Agreeableness: The agreeableness trait reflects individual differences in

general concern for social harmony. Agreeable individual’s value getting

along with others. They are generally considerate, kind, generous, trusting and

trustworthy, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others.

Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature. Because

agreeableness is a social trait, research has shown that one's agreeableness

positively correlates with the quality of relationships with one's team

members. Agreeableness also positively predicts transformational leadership

skills. Leaders with high levels of agreeableness are more likely to be

considered transformational rather than transactional and hence their work

performance is often better than others. They also motivate the subordinates

and help them improve their performance as a result their group performance

also improves. Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting

along with others. They are generally unconcerned with others well-being,

and are less likely to extend themselves for other people. Sometimes their

scepticism about others motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and

uncooperative. They do not share ideas with others and believe that their ideas

can be used by others for their own benefits. Hence sometimes many

innovative ideas are not enlightened and influence the performance of

individual, group or the organisation in terms of development and growth.

Neuroticism: Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions,

such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is sometimes called emotional

instability, or is reversed and referred to as emotional stability. Those who

score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and vulnerable to stress.

They are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor

frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their negative emotional reactions tend to

persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a

bad mood. For instance, neuroticism is connected to a pessimistic approach

toward work, confidence that work impedes with personal relationships, and

apparent anxiety linked with work which affect their performance and

sometimes declines the performance of the individual. These problems in

emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on

neuroticism to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress.

At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism are

less easily upset and are less emotionally reactive. They tend to be calm,

emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings. Hence their

performance is stable and maintains balance between work and personal life.

2. Individual Difference with respect to cognitive behaviour with respect to Work

Performance

The cognitive behaviour also plays an important role work performance of the

individual. The attitude of the individual influences his/her performance. Every

individual have different attitude and this is being reflected in their work

performance. Some of the key factors which help in determining the relationship

between cognitive behaviour and work performance are:

Job Satisfaction: Job satisfaction is defined as the general attitude of

employees towards their work or a job. Some of the important sources for job

satisfaction include challenge of the job, the degree of the interest that the

work holds for the person, the extent of required physical activity, types of

rewards etc. Job satisfaction leads directly to effective job performance.

Individual differences are also reflected in this work performance as one

person might show interest in creative and innovative jobs and one might not

like the job. Hence one is satisfied and other is dissatisfied and hence the

performance of the individual depends on the type of job performed.

Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence is a form of social

intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others feelings

and emotions to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide

one’s thinking and action. A study found that productivity and duration of

employment was determined by the employee’s relationship with the

immediate supervisor. If the individual is satisfied with his supervisor the

work performance is better than the employee dissatisfied with the supervisor.

It depends on the emotional and work relationship of the employee and the

supervisor. Bosses who are empathetic towards the feelings of employees and

who are able to intervene at the appropriate time stand to induce a feeling of

trust and attachment among employees and hence higher job performance of

the employee.

Organisational Commitment: Organisational Commitment refers to the

strength of an employee’s involvement in the organisation and identification

with it. The relationship between organisational commitment and turnover is

one of the most important relationships. The stronger an employee’s

commitment is to the organisation, the less likely the person to quit. Strong

commitment is often correlated with the low absenteeism and relatively high

productivity. Committed individuals tend to be more goal-directed and waste

less time while at work, which has positive scores on typical productivity

measures.

Trust: Trust is described as the amount of confidence and the belief that an

individual has in specific individuals or groups. It is one of the binding forces

in interpersonal relationships. It is a prerequisite for effective interpersonal

communication. If trust is build up between employees and boss, the

productivity is also increased and the job performance is improved.

Sometimes lack of trust because of difference in culture, work attitude, values

and beliefs, grapevine, low initiative etc is created which affects the job

performance of the individual and hence it is a critical factor that affects the

commitment of employees towards management.