Personality is defined as stable patterns of behavior and traits that influence how a person interacts with their environment. It has both internal components like thoughts and feelings as well as external components like appearance and behaviors. Personality is shaped by biological factors like genetics and physical traits, as well as environmental influences like family, culture, and social situations. Two major theories discussed are psychoanalytic theory, which views personality as emerging from unconscious desires and interactions between the id, ego, and superego, and trait theory, which describes personality in terms of measurable traits. Understanding personality can help with tasks like job matching, training, motivation, and management.

1. Lecture 5

2. Is a pattern of stable characteristics of a
person that influences his behavior
towards goal achievement
It includes external appearance & behavior
It consists of inner awareness of self
It is therefore a particular pattern of
measurable traits both inner & outer

3.  Each person is unique & distinct: it consists of all those
characteristics which an individual has in common with
others & some of which separates him from others
 Each person has some stable patterns of behavior:
although a person’s personality undergoes certain
changes over time, most behavior patterns remain
stable over the years
 Personality is thus both internal & external elements:
one can easily form an opinion by observing the
external traits of a person. The internal states such as
feelings & thoughts make a person somewhat unique

4. A. Biological factors
 Heredity: physical features, facial features, gender, etc, all those features
which are inborn
 Brain: this refers to the IQ level of a person. Shows his analytical bent of
mind
 Biofeedback: All involuntary functions which affects behavior like blood
pressure, brainwave patterns
 Physical features: external appearances, a tall well built person has an
imposing personality
 Age: Aged employees tend to be more loyal with organizations than younger
employees
 Gender: Rate of absenteeism in females is higher than males
 Ability: includes both intellectual & physical abilities, some parts of which are
inborn

5. B. Cultural factors
Norms prevailing within the family
Personality formation is influenced to a
large extent in the culture in which we are
born

6. C. Family Factors
 Refers to the overall home environment
created by parents
 Siblings also contribute to personality
development
 Children raised by parents in a warm & loving
home become socially well adjusted
 It also involves the socialization process
when a child learns to interact &
communicate with others in the society

7. D. Social factors
Consists of friends, peers, colleagues,
Relates to the process of socialization
E. Situational factors
Refers to the effect of environment
Varying demands of the situation

8. Psychoanalytical Theory or Intra psychic
theory
Trait Theory

9.  Developed by Sigmund Freud
 This theory emphasizes the unconscious
determinants of behavior
He says personality is the interaction
between 3 elements:
a) Id
b) Ego
c) Superego

10.  Id: is the only part of the personality that is
present at birth, inherited & uncontrolled
 The id operates according to the pleasure
principle & wants immediate fulfillment of its
wants with or without logic
 Id is largely childish, irrational & always
demanding

11.  Ego is the logical, rational, realistic part of the
personality
 It keeps the id in check
 It mostly operates on the reality principle &
thus is mostly conscious
 It considers the constraints of the real world in
determining the appropriate time, place &
object for gratification of the id’s wishes

12.  Super ego is the moral component of the
personality
 It is popularly known as the conscience which
consists of all those behaviors for which we
are punished or feel guilty
 It is the most power element in one’s
personality
 Its main function is to keep the id & ego in
check

13.  A trait is a personal characteristic that is used to describe &
explain personality.
 It is a set of relatively stable & consistent personal
characteristics
 Allport gave 2 main categories of traits:
a) Common traits- those which are common to others
belonging to the same culture like praying before taking a
meal which reflects religiousness of a person
b) Individual traits- specific or unique to an individual like good
at painting or singing which shows artistic abilities

14. Raymond Cattell’s 16 personality
framework can be divided into 2 parts:
i) Surface traits: observable qualities of a
person like honest, helpful, kind etc
ii) Source traits: these are the causes of
behavior like intelligence, practicality etc

15.  Reserved vs Outgoing
 Less intelligent vs More intelligent
 Emotionally stable vs Emotionally unstable
 Submissive vs Dominant
 Serious vs Happy go lucky
 Expedient vs Conscientious
 Timid vs Venturesome
 Tough minded vs Sensitive
 Trusting vs Suspicious
 Practical vs Imaginative
 Forthright vs Shrewd
 Self assured vs Apprehensive
 Conservative vs Experimenting
 Group dependent vs Self sufficient
 Uncontrolled vs Controlled
 Relaxed vs Tense

16.  Conscientiousness: extent of obedience & hard
working vs lazy & unorganized
 Extraversion: the degree to which a person can
connect & gel up with other individuals vs introvert &
reserved people
 Agreeableness: cooperation vs non cooperation
 Emotional stability: the degree to which an individual is
secure vs insecurity
 Openness: the extent to which an individual is creative
& open to new ideas vs narrow ideas

17.  Matching jobs & individuals- every job needs some
specific characteristics of the job performer
 Training & Development- certain skills can be
developed through training
 Designing Motivation System- All people cannot be
motivated by the same incentives, some prefer
monetary incentives while some prefer non monetary
 Designing control systems- democratic or autocratic,
different personality variable react differently to
different control mechanism