Personality and Individual Differences Quiz

Which of the following best defines personality in the context of organizational behavior?

• The combination of a person's physical appearance and communication style

• A person's intellectual abilities and emotional intelligence

• The sum total of ways an individual reacts to and interacts with others

• A person's values and cultural background

Answer explanation

Personality is defined as the sum total of ways an individual reacts to and interacts with others. It refers to the relatively stable and enduring pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions that provides consistency to a person's behavior across time and situations.

While physical appearance, intellectual abilities, values, and cultural background may influence behavior, they are not the definition of personality itself.

A company using personality assessments in their hiring process realizes that they've inadvertently created teams where nearly everyone has very similar personality profiles. What is the most likely organizational consequence of this situation?

• Enhanced team cohesion and higher employee satisfaction
  

• Reduction in interpersonal conflicts and stress

• Limited diversity of thought and potential blind spots in decision-making
  

• Improved person-job fit and higher individual performance

Answer explanation

When teams consist of members with very similar personality profiles, they typically experience reduced cognitive diversity and perspective-taking capability. This homogeneity often leads to blind spots in decision-making, reduced innovation, and vulnerability to groupthink.

Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five personality dimensions?

• A) Conscientiousness

• B) Agreeableness

• C) Emotional Stability

• D) Resilience

Answer explanation

The Big Five personality dimensions (also known as the Five-Factor Model) include Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability (or its opposite, Neuroticism), and Openness to Experience.

Resilience, while an important psychological construct related to coping with stress and adversity, is not one of the Big Five dimensions.

Which personality trait from the Big Five Model has consistently been shown to be the strongest predictor of job performance across almost all occupations?

• Extraversion

• Agreeableness

• Conscientiousness

• Openness to Experience

Answer explanation

Conscientiousness—being responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent—has been consistently found to be the strongest predictor of job performance across almost all occupational groups. This is because conscientious individuals tend to be more organized, hardworking, dependable, and persistent—qualities that generally contribute to success in most work contexts.

A team leader observes that whenever she provides constructive feedback to a team member, he agrees pleasantly in the meeting but then fails to implement any changes, misses subsequent deadlines, and makes sarcastic comments about management in team emails. This pattern of behavior most clearly demonstrates:

• The Dark Triad traits
  

• Passive-aggressive behavior
  

• Poor person-job fit
  

• Low emotional intelligence

Answer explanation

The described behaviors exemplify passive-aggressive behavior in the workplace. The employee outwardly agrees to feedback (the passive component) but then indirectly expresses resistance through missed deadlines, failure to implement changes, and sarcastic comments (the aggressive component). This pattern reflects an inability or unwillingness to directly communicate disagreement or frustration, instead channeling it through indirect resistance. While this might also indicate other issues like poor person-job fit, the specific behavioral pattern described is the textbook definition of passive-aggressive behavior.

Which of the following personality traits is NOT part of the Dark Triad?

• Narcissism

• Machiavellianism

• Psychopathy

• Neuroticism

Answer explanation

The Dark Triad consists of three socially aversive personality traits: Narcissism (grandiose self-view, need for admiration), Machiavellianism (manipulative, calculating, strategic), and Psychopathy (lack of empathy and remorse, impulsivity).

Neuroticism, which refers to emotional instability and the tendency to experience negative emotions, is one of the Big Five personality traits and is not part of the Dark Triad.

A company notices high turnover among new hires despite their excellent technical qualifications. Exit interviews reveal frequent mentions of "not fitting in with the company culture." Which recruitment strategy would most directly address this issue?

• Offering higher starting salaries to increase commitment

• Using realistic job previews that honestly portray the organizational culture
  

• Shortening the onboarding period to get employees productive faster

• Implementing more rigorous technical skills assessments
  

Answer explanation

The problem described is a classic case of poor personality-organization fit, where technically qualified candidates are leaving because they don't fit with the company culture. Realistic job previews specifically address this by giving candidates an honest portrayal of the organizational culture, values, and work environment before they accept positions. This allows candidates who would not fit well to self-select out of the process, reducing subsequent turnover.

In the context of personality-organization fit, what is "supplementary fit"?

• When an individual brings valuable differences that complement the organization

• When an individual shares similar characteristics with the organization

• When an individual adapts their personality to match organizational culture

• When an organization changes to accommodate an individual's personality

Answer explanation

Supplementary fit in personality-organization fit refers to when an individual shares similar characteristics with the organization—essentially, when the person and organization are alike. This contrasts with complementary fit, which occurs when an individual brings valuable differences that complement what the organization needs.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between terminal and instrumental values?

• Terminal values are what a person ultimately wants to achieve; instrumental values are how they want to behave to achieve those end-states

• Terminal values are practical goals; instrumental values are idealistic aspirations

• Terminal values are culturally determined; instrumental values are individually determined

• Terminal values change frequently; instrumental values remain stable over time

Answer explanation

Terminal values are desirable end-states or goals—what a person ultimately wants to achieve (e.g., comfort, freedom, happiness). Instrumental values are preferable modes of behavior—how a person wants to behave to achieve their terminal values (e.g., ambition, honesty, responsibility). The relationship is analogous to ends (terminal) and means (instrumental).

A multinational corporation wants to implement a unified values statement across all its global locations. Which approach would most effectively address the challenge of cross-cultural value differences?

• Allow each location to develop entirely different values based on local culture

• Identify core universal values while allowing flexibility in their expression across cultures

• Focus values only on business outcomes, avoiding any mention of interpersonal or ethical dimensions

• Implement identical values training in all locations to ensure consistency
  

Answer explanation

This approach balances the need for organizational cohesion with cultural sensitivity. By identifying core universal values (e.g., integrity, respect, excellence) that transcend cultural boundaries while allowing flexibility in their expression and implementation across different cultural contexts, the organization can maintain a unified identity while respecting cultural differences.