Personality Tests

Recruitment & Selection

What is Personality?

Which of the following helps define the term personality? A)characteristics that are typical for a person B) characteristics that make a person unique C) acting, thinking, and feeling D) all of the above

What is Personality?

Personality is a collection of emotional, thought and behavioral patterns unique to a person that is consistent over time Originates from the Latin persona, which means "mask.

Personality Theories

Several theoretical perspectives on personality Trait theories A friendly person is likely to act friendly in any situation because of the traits in his personality 4 or 5 broad dimensions are covered

Popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Extroversion vs. Introversion (outgoing and physicalstimulation-oriented vs. quiet and physicalstimulation-averse). Intuition vs. Sensing (trust in conceptual/abstract models of reality versus concrete sensory-oriented facts) Thinking vs. Feeling (thinking as the prime-mover in decision-making vs. feelings as the prime-mover in decision-making) Perceiving vs. Judging (desire to perceive events vs. desire to have things done so judgments can be made)

Popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Every individual has a primary mode of operation within four categories Our flow of energy How we take in information How we prefer to make decisions The basic day-to-day lifestyle that we prefer

Popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Our Flow of Energy defines how we receive the essential part of our stimulation. Do we receive it from within ourselves (Introverted) or from external sources (Extraverted)? Is our dominant function focused externally or internally? How we Take in Information deals with our preferred method of taking in and absorbing information. Do we trust our five senses (Sensing) to take in information, or do we rely on our instincts (iNtuitive)?

Popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

How we prefer to Make Decisions, refers to whether we are prone to decide things based on logic and objective consideration (Thinking), or based on our personal, subjective value systems (Feeling). How we deal with the external world on a Dayto-day Basis. Are we organized and purposeful, and more comfortable with scheduled, structured environments (Judging), or are we flexible and diverse, and more comfortable with open, casual environments (Perceiving)

Popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

16 personality types
ESTJ ESTP INTJ INFJ ISFJ ESFP ENTP ENFP ESFJ ISFP INTP INFP ISTP ENTJ ENFJ ISTJ

INFJ vs INFP - Similarity

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging/Percieving Primary mode of living is focused internally Operate within themselves on an intuitive basis which is entirely spontaneous Put a tremendous amount of faith into their instincts and intuitions Get "feelings" about things and intuitively understand them

INFJ The difference

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging INFJ - sensitive to conflict, and cannot tolerate it very well. Situations which are charged with conflict may drive the normally peaceful INFJ into a state of agitation or charged anger. They have strong value systems, and need to live their lives in accordance with what they feel is right

INFP The difference

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Percieving Do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it In conflict situations, INFPs place little importance on who is right and who is wrong They focus on the way that the conflict makes them feel, and indeed don't really care whether or not they're right. They don't want to feel badly. INFPs make very good mediators, and are typically good at solving other people's conflicts, because they intuitively understand people's perspectives and feelings, and genuinely want to help them

Popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Assignment Goto www.similarminds.com Click on 16 Type Jung tests, within that click on Jung tests (short test 53 questions) Then Go to www.personalitypage.com. Click on potraits of personality types (icon of a man). A list of the16 personality types is mentioned.
Click on your personality type and go through it in detail.

Psychoanalytic Theories

Explains human behaviour in terms of interaction between the various components of personality Sigmund Freud was the founder of this school : he proposed the conversion of psychic energy into behaviour He broke the human personality down to three significant components: the ego, superego, and id. According to Freud, personality is shaped by the interactions of these three components.

Psychoanalytic Theories

In Freud's theory, the ego mediates between the id, the super-ego and the external world Its task is thus to find a balance between primitive drives, morals and reality The super-ego is a symbolic internalization of the father figure and cultural regulations Stands in opposition to the desires of the id super-ego acts as the conscience, maintaining our sense of morality and the prohibition of taboos

Psychoanalytic Theories

Id: Reservoir of need-gratification impulses such as the primitive instinctual drives Drives of the id are said to work according to the pleasure principle
The id, the ego, and the super-ego collaborate to serve the needs of the body and to control the conduct of the person

Behaviorist Theories

Behaviorists explain personality in terms of reactions to external stimuli Analysis of behavior based on this model: Stimulus - Response - Consequence
The critical question is "under which circumstances or antecedent "stimuli" does the organism engage in a particular behavior or "response," which, in turn, produces a particular "consequence."

Behaviorist Theories

Aristotle : "When two things commonly occur

together, the appearance of one will bring the other to mind."

Pavlovs conditioning

Personality

As we grow and learn, most of us develop the ability to function well in realms which are not native to our basic personalities. In the trials and tribulations of life, we develop some areas of ourselves more thoroughly than other areas. With this in mind, it becomes clear that we cannot box individuals into prescribed formulas for behavior. However, we can identify our natural preferences, and learn about our natural strengths and weaknesses within that context Our native Personality Type indicates how we are likely to deal with different situations that life presents, and in which environments we are most comfortable

Practical Application

Career Guidance What types of tasks are we most suited to perform? Where are we naturally most happy? Managing Employees How can we best understand an employee's natural capabilities, and where they will find the most satisfaction? Inter-personal Relationships How can we improve our awareness of another individual's Personality Type, and therefore increase our understanding of their reactions to situations, and know how to best communicate with them on a level which they will understand?

Practical Application

Education How can we develop different teaching methods to effectively educate different types of people? Counselling How we can help individuals understand themselves better, and become better able to deal with their strengths and weaknesses?

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

Designed to assess an individuals behaviour in conflict situations. Conflict situations are situations in which concerns of two people appear to be incompatible. In such situations we can describe a person's behaviour along two basic dimensions

Assertiveness the extent to which the individual attempts to satisfy his/her own concerns Cooperativeness the extent to which the individual attempts to satisfy the other persons concerns

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

Assertive

Competing

Collaborating

Compromising
Unassertive

Avoiding Uncooperative

Accommodating Cooperative

How to Interpret Your Results

Your dominant conflict management style is predicted by the style with the highest score. The strength of your preference (that is, your willingness to stay or move from one style to the next) is predicted by the difference between the scores of the styles If the difference is high, resistance is high. If the difference is low, you may move from one style to the other with ease.

Competing Assertive and Uncooperative

An individual pursues their own concerns at the other persons expense. This is a power oriented mode, one uses whatever power seems appropriate to in ones rank, economic sanctions Might mean- standing up for your rights or simply trying to win Places prime importance on personal goals to the exclusion of any concerns for the relationship

Accommodating Unassertive and Cooperative

Opposite of competing

You believe that self-sacrifice and placing the importance of continued relationship above ones own goals is necessary for solving conflict It reflects a need for affiliation and acceptance, interest in appeasing others Since personal objectives are set aside by the user, the cost of this style lends itself to exploitation and can become incredibly burdensome in the long term

Avoiding Unassertive and Uncooperative

The individual does not immediately pursue their own concerns or those of the other other person. They do not address the conflict Avoiding might take the form of diplomatically sidestepping an issue, postponing an issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from a threatening situation

Collaborating Assertive and Cooperative

Opposite of Avoiding Involves an attempt to work with the other person to find some solution, which fully satisfies the concerns of both the persons. It means digging into an issue to identify underlying concerns

Collaborating Assertive and Cooperative

You believe that conflict itself is neither good nor bad, but usually a symptom of tensions in relationships and should be treated accordingly Differences may be resolved and serve to strengthen relationships rather than divide Conflict cannot be ignored and requires problem-solving often of the type that goes beyond the superficial issues

Compromising Intermediate in both assertiveness and Cooperativeness You believe that differences between people should be treated in light of the common good and that partys need to win a little, lose a little This style tries to soften and make more tolerable the effects of losing by limiting the gains Attempt to serve the common good Addresses an issue more directly than avoiding but doesnt explore it in as much depth as collaborating

Interpreting your results There are no right answers All five conflict handling modes are useful in some situations each represents a set of useful social skills Two heads are better than one (Collaborating) Kill your enemies with kindness (Accommodating) Split the difference (Compromising) Leave well enough alone (avoiding) Might makes right (competing)

Interpreting your results

None of us can be characterized as having a single rigid style of dealing with conflict Any individual uses some modes better than others and hence relies on those modes more heavily than others (temperament or practice) It is important to emphasize that we have the ability to change our dominant style and our response hierarchy

Competing

When quick decisive action is vital, e,g emergencies Enforcing unpopular rules, discipline To protect yourself against people who take advantage of noncompetitive behavior

Collaborating

Takes time and energy Trivial problems dont require optimal solutions Not all personal differences need to be hashed out Trust and openness maybe taken advantage of

Compromising

When goals are moderately important but not worth the effort of disruption Labor management bargaining To achieve temporary settlements to complex issues As a backup mode when collaboration or competition fails

Accommodating

When you realize that you are wrong to learn from others and show that you are reasonable When the issue is much more important to the other person than to yourself When you are outmatched and losing When avoiding disruption are especially important To allow subordinates to experiment and learn from their own mistakes

Accommodating

When you realize that you are wrong to learn from others and show that you are reasonable When the issue is much more important to the other person than to yourself When you are outmatched and losing When avoiding disruption are especially important To allow subordinates to experiment and learn from their own mistakes

Practical Application

Companies use a variety of tactics in the interview process to not only screen for skill and experience, but also to ensure the candidate is a good fit Personality test yield exceptional amount of information about an individuals less tangible attributes It is costly to replace an employee who has been let go due to a personality conflict

Practical Application

The costs can be measured in lost productivity, recruiting and hiring expenses, and costs associated with training a new employee. Giving personality tests can help reduce the risk of incorrectly judging a potential employee's character, and may help you better understand your staff's motivations and actions

Practical Application

As an HR manager you may ask the following questions: What books do you read? What are your strengths? Why did you leave your previous jobs You will get well rehearsed answers to this

Practical Application

Companies ask prospective candidates to take personality tests-30 to 50-minute online test E.g Candidates maybe asked to rate to what degree they agreed or disagreed with statements such as, "It's maddening when the court lets guilty criminals go free," "You don't worry about making a good impression" and "You could describe yourself as 'tidy'." Some firms do not bother interviewing applicants unless they score above a certain level. Certain other companies, however, prefer to put everyone through an interview on the chance that assessments are wrong.