displeasure when situations are not to their liking.^70 If an organization requires people
with entrepreneurial initiative, proactives make good candidates; however, these are
people that are also more likely to leave an organization to start their own business.^71
As individuals, proactives are more likely to achieve career success.^72 This is because
they select, create, and influence work situations in their favour. Proactives are more
likely to seek out job and organizational information, develop contacts in high places,
engage in career planning, and demonstrate persistence in the face of career obstacles.
Personality and National Culture
There are certainly no common personality types for a given country. You can, for
instance, find high and low risk-takers in almost any culture. Yet a country’s culture
should influence the dominant personality characteristics of its population. Let’s build
this case by looking at one personality attribute—locus of control.
There is evidence that cultures differ in terms of people’s relationship to their envi-
ronment.^73 In some cultures, such as those in North America, people believe that they can
dominate their environment. People in other societies, such as Middle Eastern coun-
tries, believe that life is essentially preordained. Notice the close parallel to internal and
external locus of control. We should expect a larger proportion of internals in the Canadian
and American workforces than in the Saudi Arabian or Iranian workforces.
One caveat regarding personality tests is that they may be subject to cultural bias
when used on samples of people other than those for whom the tests were designed. For
instance, on common American personality tests, British people are characterized as
“less dominant, achievement-orientated or flexible than Americans, but more self-con-
trolled.”^74 An example of a bias that can appear in such tests is that only 10 percent of
British men answer “true” to the statement “I very much like hunting,” while 70 percent
of American men agree.^75 When these tests are used to select managers, they may result
in the selection of individuals who are not as suitable in the British workplace as they
would be in the American workplace.
EMOTIONS
Each of us has a range of personality characteristics, but we also bring with us a range
of emotions. Given the obvious role that emotions play in our everyday lives, it might
surprise you to learn that, until very recently, the topic of emotions was given little or no
attention in the field of OB. When emotions were considered, the discussion focused on
strong negative emotions—especially anger—that interfered with an employee’s ability
to do his or her job effectively. Emotions were rarely viewed as constructive or able to
stimulate performance-enhancing behaviours.
Certainly some emotions, particularly when exhibited at the wrong time, can reduce
employee performance. But this does not change the reality that employees bring an
emotional component with them to work every day, and that no study of OB could be
comprehensive without considering the role of emotions in workplace behaviour.
What Are Emotions?
Emotionsare intense feelings that are directed at someone or something.^76 Emotions
are different from moods, which are feelings that tend to be less intense than emo-
tions and that lack a contextual stimulus.^77
Emotions are reactionsto an object; they are not lasting personality traits. You show
your emotions when you are “happy about something, angry at someone, afraid of
something.”^77 Moods, on the other hand, are not directed at an object. Emotions can turn
into moods when you lose focus on the contextual object. So when a colleague criticizes
Chapter 2Perception, Personality, and Emotions 516 Can emotions help or
get in the way when
we’re dealing with
others?emotionsIntense feelings that are
directed at someone or something.
moodsFeelings that tend to be
less intense than emotions and that
lack a contextual stimulus.