170 PART 2 The Individual Sources: Based on T. A. Judge, B. A. Livingston, and C. Hurst, "Do Nice Guys-and Gals-Really Finish Last? The Joint Effects of Sex and Agreeableness on Income," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102 (2012): 390-407; J. B. Bernerth, S. G. Taylor, H. J. Walker, and D. S. Whitman, "An Empirical Inves- tigation of Dispositional Antecedents and Performance-Related Outcomes of Credit Scores," Journal of Applied Psychology 97 (2012): 469-78; J. Carpenter, D. Doverspike, and R. F. Miguel, "Public Service Moti- vation as a Predictor of Attraction to the Public Sector," Journal of Vocational Behavior 80 (2012): 509-23; and A. Neal, G. Yeo, A. Koy, and T. Xiao, "Predicting the Form and Direction of Work Role Performance from the Big 5 Model of Personality Traits," Journal of Organizational Behavior 33 (2012): 175-92. CASE INCIDENT 2 The Clash of the Traits Dr. Judith Sills, in an article in Psychology Today, recalls the relationships with their supervisors. Employees and super- story of an organizational consultant who visited a large visors report weaker relationships between one another engineering firm. He found that all the employees had when they differ on emotional stability, openness to expe something extra following their name on their plastic rience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness (but not nametags: their Myers-Briggs personality type (e.g., INFJ, extraversion). ESTP, etc.). Dr. Sills found that this highlighted an impor- Despite these findings, many note that personality is tant truth in the workplace: Even after all we do, say, hear, just one piece of the puzzle-the big picture is more com- and think, we still must interact with one another. plex, politically sensitive, and nuanced than differences Sometimes these interactions can lead to conflict; of in personality. However, if you find yourself in a poten- the causes of this conflict, personality clashes are the third ial "personality clash" situation, Dr. Sills notes that you most common, a recent survey from XpertHR suggests. should try to (1) resist "recruiting" coworkers to take sides For example, Tim Ursiny, an organizational psychologist (this will just add more negativity and complexity to the and founder of Advantage Coaching, was hired by Wells situation), (2) focus on the strengths of this other per- Fargo to help manage some of these personality clashes that had arisen within their ranks. He suggests that many son, (3) reduce your contact with the other person so that the conflict occurs less frequently, and (4) develop some personality differences result from clashes between trait dimensions such as outspoken and reserved, impulsive insight into who you are and what your personality is like and methodical, along with skeptical and accepting. It is (this can help you figure out what you can do or what you easy to see how these dichotomies can, at least to some should stop doing in order to reduce conflict). degree, map onto facets of the Big Five, like extraversion, Questions conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Of these types, the more dominant, impulsive types tend to foster more 5-18. Have you ever had an experience in which your conflict than the others. personality clashed with someone, either at work Some research supports the impact of personality or outside work? What did you do to resolve it? Was the situation resolved? within teams because certain personality characteristics seem to affect whether the interpersonal conflict helps or 5-19. Which do you think is more important: similarity hurts team performance. For example, when the team is between personality types or differences? Explain your answer. composed of employees high on openness to experience and emotional stability, conflict can help their perfor- 5-20. Do you think knowledge of personality similarities mance. However, when the team is low on these qualities, or differences can help employees reduce conflict conflict can hurt performance. Additional research has and get along better? Or does this knowledge explored how personality differences affect employees' answer. have the potential to cause harm? Explain your Sources: Based on J. B. Bernerth, A. A. Armenakis, H. S. Field, W. F. Giles, and H. J. Walker, "The Influence of Personality Differences between Subordinates and Supervisors on Perceptions of LMS," Group & Organization Manag ement 33, no. 2 (2008): 216-40; B. H. Bradley, A. C. Clotz, B. E, Postle- in P thwaite, and K. G. Brown, "Ready to Rumble: How Team Personality Composition and Task Conflict in A Interact to Improve Performance," Journal of Applied Psychology 98, no. 2 (2013): 385-92; B. Dattner, (in "Most Work Conflicts Aren't Due to Personality," Harvard Business Review, May 20, 2014, hups:/ /hbr .org/2014/05/most-work-conflicts-arent-due-to-personality; S. Lebowitz, "A Psychologist Says These Personality Types Are Most Likely to Clash at Work," Business Insider, May 27, 2015, hup:/ /www businessinsider.com/personality-types-that-clash-at-work-2015-5; J. Sills, "When Personalities Clash," cies: Psychology Today, November 1, 2006, https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200611/when- personalities-clash; and S. Simpson, "Personality Clashes in the Workplace: Five Interesting and Colle Employment Cases," Personnel Today, February 27, 2015, http:/ /www.personneltoday.com/hr/ Inter personality-clashes-workplace-five-interesting employment-cases/. Ring.