Briefly discuss each of the five personality traits and the usefulness each has for personnel selection.

What is the difference between a terminal value and an instrumental value? What impact does an assessment of employee values have upon a firm?

A terminal value is an end state people desire in life, such as leading a prosperous life. An instrumental value, in contrast, is a view on an acceptable mode of conduct such as being ethical. Values that are important to people impact their decisions and behaviors. Further, values are stable aspects of a person’s life that influence their perspective on an ongoing basis. Thus, it would be very beneficial for a firm to recognize its employees’ core values to discern the nature of their behavior in the workplace and to determine whether the job and/or organization provides an opportunity to satisfy the dominant values of the employees.

146. Briefly discuss each of the five personality traits and the usefulness each has for personnel selection.

Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative and open to new ideas. People high in openness thrive in jobs and positions where they can be flexible and learn new things.

Conscientiousness is the degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual, achievement-oriented and dependable. High conscientiousness is the trait most desired by recruiters as it uniformly predicts how high a person’s performance on the job will be.

Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoys being in social situations. These individuals are particularly effective in jobs involving sales.

Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind and warm. Agreeable people help others work consistently; thus they are good team members.

Neuroticism is the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, aggressive, temperamental and moody. These individuals experience a variety of problems at work so identification of them in the interview will help a firm avoid the relationship issues they create as employees.

147. You work with Ben, one of the most negative individuals you have ever met. How can you work more effectively with him?

Begin by recognizing the fact that you are not going to change him. A person’s personality is rather stable so criticizing his negativity will not change it.

Be open-minded. Just because someone is negative does not mean he is not right.

Set a time limit for your conversations with the negative person. Don’t let them consume you.

Empower the person to act on the things he complains about. Ask him what he would do to fix the problematic situation.

Ask for specifics. Let him provide details of the problem.

148. Explain the difference between self-esteem and self -efficacy.

Self-esteem is the overall positive feelings a person holds about himself or herself. Self-efficacy, in contrast, is the belief that a person can perform a task. Self-esteem is a more universal or overall assessment of one’s beliefs while self-efficacy focuses on beliefs related to performance.

149. Horace completed a locus of control survey in his organizational behavior class. The results indicate he has a high internal locus of control. What might he read about the trait in the profile of high locus of control individuals?

High internal locus of control individuals believe they control their own destiny and what happens to them is their own doing. Internals tend to act in ways that increase their chances of success. Thus, they initiate relationships with mentors, become more involved at work and demonstrate higher levels of motivation.

150. Differentiate between self-enhancement bias and self-effacement bias.

Self-enhancement bias is the tendency for people to overestimate their performance and capabilities and see themselves in a more positive light than others see them. This scenario occurs quite frequently in self-assessment in performance evaluations as individuals, in general, rate themselves higher than either their peers or superiors do.

Self-effacement bias is the tendency for people to underestimate their performance and see events that put them in a more negative light.

151. Define the concept of stereotypes and give an example.

A stereotype is a generalization based upon group characteristics. The stereotype can be positive, negative or neutral. An example of a stereotype is that women talk too much and that men never ask for directions. Our stereotypes can influence the nature of our communication, decision making and other processes.

152. What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A self-fulfilling prophecy is when an established stereotype causes one to behave in a certain way, which leads another party to behave in a way that makes the stereotype come true. In a classic example of the self-fulfilling prophecy, an third-grade elementary school teacher is told by a second-grade teacher that the students she is sending into his third-grade class next year are very poor readers. The following year, the third-grade teacher teaches reading to the students from the standpoint of being poor readers. When the scores for their first reading test of third-grade are examined, they indicate the students are poor readers. The self-fulfilling prophecy has been fulfilled.