PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION & ATTRIBUTION; ATTITUDES & VALUES

Personality, Perception and Attribution

"Personality, perceptions and attributions are subjects of analysis of the so called Interactional Psychology, which is the study of the individuals’ patterns of interaction in a given structure and environment" (Terborg, 1981)(1).

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Many authors have defined personality in slightly different ways, but after collating from 50 different definitions, Allport (1937) offered his own definition of Personality: “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment” (2)

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The personality is determinate by some factors, as: Cultural influences, Family and social groups and Situation and behavior.

In addition, there are a lot of traits, and the most important are the “Big Five” Personality traits:

-         Surgency and Extraversion.

-         Agreeableness

-         Conscientiousness

-          Neuroticism and Emotional stability

-          Openness to experience and Intellect

Each person understand, feel and see the world in a particular way. The Perception is reflected in the way that a person act and behave. Peter Lindsay and Donald A. Norman said “Perception is the process by which organisms interpret and organize sensation to produce a meaningful experience of the world… perception in humans describes the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience.”

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Attributions are assumptions about the nature of the environment, of oneself and of the people with whom one interacts. As they are personal assumptions, it is likely that any attribution falls into biases. Fundamental attribution error consists of assuming that the other’s errors are determined by the internal structure and characteristics of people. Self-serving bias is the tendency to define personal success in terms of internal causes, and failures in terms of external factors (Inamory, 2010). (3)

Attitudes and values

Morse and Young (1973) said: “The individual faces the autonomy dilemma when he (or she) realizes that he (or she) has the ability to submit to parental demands or withhold the behavior which will please his parents. If the individual derives pleasure from failure to submit to parental demands, the emerged tendency will be strong desire for autonomy and a need to defy authority figures and restrictions: this is a keystone in the development of the attitude toward authority".

The Attitudes are formed, the individuals are not born with the attitudes. Also means that attitudes are reflected in our actions and reactions.

The OB studies are related with work-related attitudes and behavior. The employee’s attitude for job can affect the satisfaction, and the commitment with the organization.

A Value is an enduring belief that a Specific mode of conduct or end-stated of existence is personally and socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence. A value system is an enduring organization of beliefs concerning preferable modes of conduct or end states of existence along continuum of relative importance. (Rokeach, 1973)

Values provide the base for understanding an individual’s attitudes, perceptions and personality, that’s why, is an important issue that explains the behavior of a person.

To what do you attribute the success of JICA?

The JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), is a generous and free aid agency Japanese, that works to reduce poverty.

JICA offer help in Colombia, some countries of Africa and Mongolia.

The succes of JICA are based in its support of the weakest (socially) and its great contribution to built the World Peace.

JICA have 30 volunteers in Colombia, and have 4 in Medellin (change each 2 years), and is is funded by the Japanese government, that provides food, rent and transport for people with low incomes. But Japan doesn't have a lot resources, and need the help of other countries, "I give and I recieve, to survive" (Foreign policy).

Sources:

1. Terborg, J. (1981). Interactional Psychology and Research on Human Behavior in Organizations. Academy of Management Review, 589-576.

2. Allport, Gordon W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. Personality; Characters and characteristics, p. 48.

3.    Inamori, T., & Analoui, F. (2010). Beyond Pygmalion effect: the role of managerial perception. Journal of Management Development, 29(4), 306-321.

*  Peter Lindsay & Donald A. Norman: Human Information Processing: An Introduction to Psychology, 1977.

*  P. Chelladurai. Human resource management in sport and recreation. Human Kinetics, (217). [on line] http://books.google.com/books?id=THa2M91b938C&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=%E2%80%9CPersonality+is+the+dynamic+organization+within+the+individual+of+those+psychophysical+systems+that+determine+his+unique+adjustments+to+his+environment%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=itm_4quhEM&sig=14ZMTCkczyeJQ8OqHhS8Y-EtSjs&hl=es&ei=0ld5TdiCL-rj0gG6z7nvAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CPersonality%20is%20the%20dynamic%20organization%20within%20the%20individual%20of%20those%20psychophysical%20systems%20that%20determine%20his%20unique%20adjustments%20to%20his%20environment%E2%80%9D&f=false