Organizational Psychology in the Companies - Essay Example

Organizational Psychology al Affiliation Organizational Psychology An individual’s personality is important in defining how the person will behave and whether they will be productive in their respective duties. Companies and organizations spend much time to establish the personality of their employees and place them in the dockets that they will be able to deliver best (Saul, 2014). Personality theories have been developed and projected to ensure elaborate on the various personality traits and how such people will behave. In any organisation, the management tries to motivate its workers which is key to achieving the goals that have been projected in the various fields (Robbins, 2009). Organisation behaviour refers to the study of human behaviour and trying to relate it with the individuals dynamism in a given organisation set up. Organisation behaviour as a subject is broken down into simpler aspects which are applied when trying to understand the individual’s fitting in a given set up (Saul, 2014; Robbins, 2009). The levels of the study of organisational behaviour include micro level which is the study of the individuals in the organisation, meso-level which focuses on the work groups that make an organisation and the macro-level which focuses on the way organizations behave in regard to individual’s personality. Organisations are made up of different individuals who are brought together and their minds synchronized to work and deliver in the overall interest of the whole organisation. This is hard and it is the place where the aspect of organisational behaviour comes in. This work will therefore analyse the theories of personality and then look and how relevant they are in a given organisation. In the second part of the paper we shall identify and evaluate the effect of power relationship and the role they play in motivating the workers. Theories of Personality Theories of personality are important in explaining the dynamicity of the individual in relation to the organization he/she is working in. According to Allport, 1961, personality is the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychophysical systems that that determine his characteristics behaviour and though (p. 28). Weinberg and Gould, 1999, personality is defined as the characteristics or blend of characteristics that make a person unique. Personality of different people is therefore different and though the theories that will be explained in this work will show a correlation between them it is important to understand the different people to place them in the places that they will deliver best. All the definitions that are offered for personality adopt an idiographic view at the end. This way they try to assume that the individuals that make up any organisation have a unique physical make up and that no matter how close their they may seem to be they possess some traits that are totally unique to each other. At very specific situations it is totally impossible to compare one individual to another in terms of their personality. The nomothetic view emphasizes and assumes that there is a close comparison between individuals in a given organization. This is important in the development of group dynamics which determine the productivity of a given organization. In this view, all traits are bound to have a similar psychological meaning. These two theories are important in the development of the personality theories and introducing group dynamics which tries to bring people with different traits together and make them deliver to a given goal in a stipulated time frame. It is good therefore to make the best of the knowledge in the field if the teams created are to deliver in the best way required (Schindler, 2008). Failing to understand the individuals’ different personality traits leads to the formation of an un-harmonised team that can’t deliver. Freud’s Personality Theory Freud came up with a theory that can be used to predict and understand the personality dynamics in any given group. He proposed that personality determines one’s instinctual drives such as type of food one eats most or the drives one has. This will determine the interests in life which are so important in this course. He also proposes that ones’ personality is a process that occurs unconsciously (Saul, 2014). The way one is brought up highly defines the personality that they have It is a product of the environment we live in and the interplay of instincts that give rise to the personality that we have. In 1923, Freud proposed the Tripartite Theory of personality. It is structured in three parts and hence the name. The three parts include the Person’s ID, the ego and the super ego. The ID according to this set up is the primitive and one of the most instinctive part of an individual’s personality. It is mainly made up of the inherited components of that individual’s personality such as sex and aggression. However, such instincts as aggression are a product of the environment that we live in and not entirely a product of the biological process or inheritance (Buttler, 1999). The theory operates on the pleasure principle which suggests that any urge or requirement should be satisfied immediately it arises. Thus should be done regardless of the consequences and hence the reason why it is classified as primitive when compared to the ego and the super ego. The ego develops as a result of the need to interact with the external world. It is referred to as the decision making component of an individual. It develops while trying to mediate between the primitive ID and the real world which forces one to make decisions (Saul, 2014). The ego operates on the reality principle which is more advanced compared to the pleasure principle. The Super ego takes the teachings from the environment and also from those we live with such as parents and filters the values and morals that one needs to thrive in the society. Being the most advanced level of this theory it determines how one is able to relate with people and also marks whether a person will be talkative, or aggressive (Rockville, 1999; Saul, 2014). In an organization set up, knowing such traits is important to know what motivates a person and how to unleash the full potential of different individuals. Human resource personnel are quick to understand the personality traits of different people and ensure that they place them in circumstances where they will deliver best. However, at times it is important for someone to try and adapt to the prevailing circumstances to increase his/her dynamic approach to situations and thereby boosting his productivity (Elliot & Sheldon, 1997; Martin & Pear, 2003). To do this, most organisations make the working environment so friendly for the workers that they have the opportunity to come up with ideas and plans that can aide in achieving the goals set be the organisation. Eysenck’s Personality Theory Between 1952 and 1982, Eysenck developed a very influential personality model which was based on the study he made on a group of individuals (Saul, 2014). He conducted and prepared personality questionnaires and through them he was able to identify three dimensions of personality which will be discussed in this section. The three dimensions are extraversion, psychoticism and neuroticism. On a study that was later conducted on a group of soldiers working in the country, it was established that the answers they gave on a set of pre-set questions had a significant correlation. He therefore concluded that there must have been a number of personalities that the soldiers were primitively trying to show without their knowledge. He therefore applied factor analysis which is a technique that reduces the behaviour of an individual to a number of factors which are later classified under different subheadings. He later found out that their behaviour could fall under two categories. They were either under introversion/extraversion or Neuroticism/stability. The Characteristics of individuals in each of these groups are highlighted below. Extraverts are mostly sociable and adventurous. They will crave to do new things and seek for excitement and change. They however become bored easily because they are carefree and highly optimistic. These kind of people have many friends are they will have a way to remain in good terms with all people. They do not struggle to deal with strangers or people that people find hard to interact with (Miner,, 2000). Introverts on the other hard are mostly reserved and too cautious with life and everything that they do. They are serious and quite pessimistic with life. They are good planners are they take their time before making any decision (Kian, 2014). They are very reliable and they quickly assume leadership positions because of their ability to handle situations diligently (Moers, 2005). Unstable individuals tend to be so anxious and worried. They are not settled and composed and they cannot be relied on to make prudent decisions. Such people are overly emotional and they may have symptoms such as being bipolar or mania. Stable individuals are always emotionally calm and reserved and less worried (Boeree & Emeritus, 1997). They will handle issues with a good plan and they do not jump into conclusions. This theory is the most relied on in psychology and the understanding of different personalities. In an organisation set up, the human resource personal will try to make sure that that understand the type of personality one possesses and hence use that to make the overall output of the organisation higher (Horney, 1950). Effect of power relationships and their impact on motivation Motivation is a key to change. To unleash the full potential of the members in a given organisational set up, they need to be motivated so that they can realize their hidden potential to think broadly and deliver more (Sobel & Panas, 2014). Motivation is the driving force behind all the activities that an individual per-takes. In an organisation the relations that are developed between the different sections of the organisation may determine whether the individuals will be motivated or not (Rabideau, n.d). The way the leaders in an organisation treat the minors is of critical importance when looking at the motivating or demotivating factors which lead to success or failure of an organisation. Employees or team players need to be given freedom to think broadly without being intimidated. As discussed above, individuals possess different personalities and so the way they are treated should be customized to avoid hurting some of them. It is important to listen to the ideas of all the team players even if their ideas will not be implemented. Failing to do that can dent the organisation and make working really intolerable to many. High turn-over rate is a good example of a situation where employees quit the job since they are not allowed to think broadly or their freedom is being infringed into (Franco-Santos & Bourne, 2008). On the contrary, a motivated group will think broadly and deliver much more. Bibliography Boeree, G. C. & Emeritus. Personality Theories. 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