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Human Resource Development (HRM-627)

Lesson 5

FIVE FACTOR MODEL

IV.

Neuroticism

After extraversion and conscientiousness, neuroticism is the most researched personality trait from the Big Five

(Raja et al, 2002). They are emotionally unstable, with frequent mood swings, closely associated with negative

affectivity or NA (Watson & Tellegen, 1985). The element of NA tends to force neurotics with a negative

world view, to be anxious, sleepless and doubting. As a result they are less inclined to seek control of their life

and work environment. "At the core of neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative affects" (Bono &

Judge, 2004).

People high on neuroticism tend to be easily distracted as they are mostly preoccupied with their internal

worries, anxieties and, stresses. In short, neuroticism is the opposite of "emotional stability."

Positive Pole of Neuroticism (Characteristics of individuals high on neuroticism)

Distractible

Embarrassed

Unstable

Respond negatively to

Emotional

Fearful

environmental stresses

Worried

Instable

Negative world view

Insecure

Envious

Anxious

Self pitifying

Gullible

Depressed

Tense

Timid

Angry

Touchy

Immature

Negative Pole of Neuroticism

Placid

Brave

Independent

Confident

Emotionally stable

Secure

Strong willed

Openness to Experience

Openness to experience is the least studied Big 5 personality dimension, especially in relation to job

performance. Individuals high on openness to experience tend to be highly sensitive to art, science, culture

(Clark & Robertson, 2005) and civilization. Since they are "open to experience", they are more effective at

managing change and this has been confirmed by studying their behavior during the transitional job stage

(Thoresen, Bradley & Bliese, 2004; Judge, Thoresen, Pucik, Welbourne, 1999).

Traditional conceptualization of openness includes affinity for culture and a liberal and critical attitude toward

societal values and intellect and, the ability to learn and reason (Bono & Judge, 2004).

Positive Pole of Openness to Experience

Unconventional

Flexibility of thought

Broad minded

Curious

Readiness to indulge in

Insightful

fantasy

Cultured

Artistic

Reflective

Intelligent

Wide interests

Imaginative

Openness to new ideas,

Political liberalism

feelings

Original

Negative Pole of Openness to Experience

Shallow

Unimaginative

Simple

Stupid

Dull

The Construct: INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

In English language the word "intrinsic" has synonyms like inherent, native, built-in, central and, natural,

whereas the synonymous for word "motivation" include incentive, inspiration, drive, enthusiasm, impetus,

stimulus, spur, impulse and, driving force. So in other words the phrase "intrinsic motivation" implies an in-

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Human Resource Development (HRM-627)

built and naturally occurring inspiration or drive. A natural question arises here; what would this in-built drive

accomplish or do? Warner (1987, p. 38), while analyzing the philosophy of Kantian motivation, provides clues

to this question through defining motives as, "desire in general.......a state that plays a certain role in

commonsense psychological explanation and justification of thought and action." The in-built drive or desire,

therefore, accomplishes our thoughts and actions, or forms, the very bases of our volitional behavior. Warner

also notes that, "motives vary in intensity, and the greater the intensity, the more likely as a rule it is that the

motive will cause action." It implies therefore that stronger the motive or the in-built drive or intrinsic

motivation, stronger the likelihood of some action or at least thought leading up to action.

Literature identifies another form of motivation; extrinsic motivation, which also involves thought and action

but these thoughts and actions are not inherently based and are rather contingent upon rewards, either financial

or in the form of advancement in work, influence in organization or self enhancement. Baker (2004) captures

the two constructs beautifully when he says that, "intrinsic motivation refers to doing an activity or behavior

voluntarily for its own sake, and the inherent pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation, while

extrinsic motivation refers to activities engaged in as a means to an end such as, to gain reward or avoid

criticism, rather than for satisfaction of the activity itself."

The above mentioned definition of motivation mentions the notions of means and ends. These means and

ends are basically motives or the reasons people hold for initiating and performing voluntary behavior (Reiss,

2004). An example of an end motive would be a schoolboy playing guitar for the pleasure of it i.e. for no

apparent reason other than that is what the schoolboy of our example desires to do. In contrast mean or

instrumental motives are indicated when an act is performed for its instrumental value. For example, consider a

professional cricketer who plays at international level and gets paid for it. Here the end motive is probably

financial and status gains rather than a pure love for the game. Studies have also identified goals as forming the

basis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Mastery goals, for example, involve participation in a task to increase

competence, very similar to our example of schoolboy playing guitar for the sake of pleasure and gaining

mastery or competence in the process. By setting performance goals people want to demonstrate their

competence to others and then gain extrinsic rewards (Remedios, Ritchie and Lieberman, 2005). Literature also

speaks about conscious and sub conscious motivation (Locke & Latham, 2004) where conscious motivation

probably refers to the more manifested or extrinsic form of motivation and sub conscious to the more inherent

and natural, intrinsic form of motivation.

Intrinsic motivation (IM) or engaging in a task for its engagement value is one of the most powerful forms of

motivation. It is associated with enhanced performance, improved conceptual and creative thinking, superior

memory recall, positive affect, subsequent willingness to engage in other tasks, and better psychological and

physical health compared with other forms of motivation. (Bumpus, Olberter & Glover, 1998).

Up to this point it seems as if all IMs are pleasurable, a contention challenged by Reiss (2004) while presenting

his multifaceted theory of IM. He mentions that, "whereas IM theorists have said that psychological aim of

inquiry is intellectual pleasure........aims of inquiry are learning and knowledge......highly curious people

desire knowledge and understanding so strongly they pursue the inquiry process even when they must endure

anxieties, severe criticism, devastating failures, and other frustrations." This prerequisite for IM, the ability to

withstand anxiety and frustration, is also noted by other writers and it is said that, "intrinsic motivation is

inversely related to anxiety (Gottfried, 1990) and depression" (Boggiano & Barrett, 1992).

Another important distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is provided by Deci and Ryan (1991).

According to them, "motivated actions are self-determined to the extent that they are engaged in wholly

volitionally and endorsed by one's self, whereas actions are controlled if they are compelled by some

interpersonal or intra psychic force." The element of self-determination is at the heart of IM and again

represents an inherent or internal characteristic. When a behavior is self-determined, the regulatory process is

choice, but when it is controlled, the regulatory process is compliance (or in some cases defiance). The

important point to note is that both self-determined and controlled behaviors are motivated or intentional but

their regulatory processes are very different (Robert, Pelletier & Ryan, 1991). A feeling of personal causation or

free choice seems to be a crucial component of IM (Bumps, Olberter & Glover, 1998). In the case of IM the

motivational force is provided by the self whereas in extrinsic motivation the motivational force is controlled

through rewards or feedback.

It does not, automatically, imply form the above that IM necessarily decreases with rewards and feedback. The

Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) identifies two needs; autonomy and competence, and two types of

rewards; controlling and informational. People with high need for autonomy are more liable to have IM and

those high on competence believe them to be competent or at least capable of learning, so that the task will be

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Human Resource Development (HRM-627)

a pleasant experience and again IM will be high. Controlling rewards are basically task contingent rewards i.e.

people have to work on the task to obtain the rewards so they (rewards) become controlling and in this case IM

will decrease. In the case of performance contingent rewards, rewards are again strongly controlled but IM will

decrease only if the cue value or feedback is also controlling (e.g. "you should keep up your work" or "you

have done as well as you should"). If the feedback is not controlling but informational, informing people why

they have performed well, then there will be a strong competence affirmation and IM will increase (Deci,

Koestner & Ryan, 1985 & 1999).

In their 1999 meta-analysis of 128 controlled experimental studies exploring the effects of extrinsic rewards on

IM, Deci, Koestner and Ryan conclude that "In general, tangible rewards had a significant negative effect on

intrinsic motivation for interesting tasks......verbal rewards or what is usually labeled as positive feedback in

the motivation literature has a significant positive effect on intrinsic motivation."

The effects of controlling rewards and feedback on IM are also highlighted by a recent study in Northern

Ireland where effects of sitting a transfer test were studied on the IM of school pupils. The study showed that

after sitting the test, motivation of test pupils decreased significantly relative to no-test pupils despite the fact

that most of the pupils achieved grades they needed for admission to grammar school (Remedios, Ritchie &

Lieberman, 2005).

Literature thus explores and confirms the over justification theory according to which providing external

rewards decreases IM (Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999; Dev 1998; Edwards 1994; Fair & Silvestri, 1992; Kohn,

1993; Lapper et al. 1973) and reports that "an intrinsically motivated person acts out of an internalized desire to

self-actualize" (Watts, Randolph, Cashwell and Schweiger, 2004).

The Basis of Intrinsically Motivated Behavior

Why certain people seem content and happy with life while others don't? Why certain people don't let their

motivation decrease in the face of failure and frustrations? These are difficult questions to answer but in light

of the literature review, one is tempted to suggest that three factors (apart from a possible role of genetics and

inheritance) explain the determination of intrinsically motivated behavior. One is the element of cognition and

the other two are affect or emotions and values (in this paper, my focus would be entirely on work values).

Intrinsic Motivation and Cognition

We have already seen that CET defines two basic elements of motivational behavior; free choice and evaluation

of competence through positive and informational feedback. According to Barrick, Stewart and Piotroweski

(2002), "one theme that continually emerges in discussions of motivational models is the importance of

cognitive processes" and they also quote Locke and Latham (1990) as saying that, "although cognition and

motivation can be separated by abstraction for the purpose of scientific study, in reality they are virtually never

separate." Barrick et al (2002) also mention the centrality of cognition as captured by Mitchell's (1997)

definition of motivation as "those psychological processes involved with the arousal, direction, intensity, and

persistence of voluntary actions that are goals directed." And in a search of a broad set of such cognitive goals,

Barrick et al (2002) "building on the concepts from evolutionary biology, anthropology, and sociology, as well

as socio analytic theory" find that "individuals strive for communion and for agency and status".

Intrinsic Motivation and Affect

Literature also demonstrates a link between affect and IM and Reene & Cole (1987) mention that, "the

experience of feeling active, alive (i.e. excitement) and joyful are fundamentally associated with activity

interest.........The excitement and joy formulation of IM emphasizes the important role of affect factors in

IM.....Intrinsically motivated behavior is a consequence of excitement (& joy to a lesser extent) via curiosity

and exploration".

A study examining the relationship between exercise motives and psychological well-being also points to the

possible role of affectivity in the causation of intrinsic exercise motives or IM for exercise, "in the short term,

extrinsic exercise motives for exercise are significantly related to poorer psychological well-being, whereas in

the long term, intrinsic exercise motives for exercise are related to aspects of better psychological well-

being.........It is perhaps more likely that a more integrated relationship occurs whereby exercise motives and

psychological well-being interact, through reinforcement of positive feelings, and exercise becomes more

rewarding" (Maltby & Day, 2001).

Other researchers like Judge & Llies (2003) report that "NA (negative affectivity) reflects individual tendencies

to experience aversive emotional states, such as fear, hostility, and anger, whereas PA (positive affectivity)

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Human Resource Development (HRM-627)

reflects the propensity to experience positive states such as enthusiasm, confidence and cheerfulness. The

emotional states associated with PA are the ones that form the basis of an intrinsically motivated behavior.

Intrinsic Motivation and Values

Work values are a class of motives that serve as standards or criteria to engender thought and action. People

are motivated to find work environment that are congruent with their values (Furnham, Petrides, Tsaousis,

Pappas and Garrod, 2005). Values are also defined as "cognitive constructs that explain individual differences

in regard to aims in life and behavior principles and priorities" (Renner, 2003). Work values are of two types;

extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic work values include money, prestige, way of life, security, economic return

(reward oriented) plus those independent of content of work like surroundings, associates, supervisory

relationships, etc. whereas intrinsic work values are manifested through activity pleasure, goal accomplishment,

creativity, management, achievement, altruism, independence, intellectual stimulation, and aesthetics. Table 1

outlines ten categories of values identified by Schwartz (1992) along with their description and the type to

which they belong (Aluja & Garcia, 2004).

Table 1

Value

Description

Value Type

Power

social status & prestige, dominance over people

Extrinsic

Achievement

personal success, capable, ambitious, influential

Intrinsic

Hedonism

pleasure gratification for self, enjoying life

Extrinsic

Stimulation

excitement, novelty, and challenge in life, daring

Extrinsic

Self-direction

independent thought, exploring, curious, freedom, creativity

Intrinsic

Universalism

understanding, tolerance, social justice, broadminded

Intrinsic

Benevolence

welfare of others, honest, helpful, forgiving

Intrinsic

Tradition

respect for traditional culture and religion, humble, moderate

Extrinsic

Conformity

honoring parents and elders, polite, obedient

Extrinsic

Security

safety and stability of society and of self and relationships

Intrinsic

It almost seems obvious that those individuals with strong intrinsic work values will be high on IM whereas

those having stronger preference for extrinsic values will be more motivated extrinsically. Researchers have

explored similar links between values and personality and it is reported that extraverts seek jobs with variety

and neurotics seek jobs with stability (Furnham et al, 2005).

We can, therefore, conclude from the literature that IM is based on three elements of cognition, affect and

values. This is a crucial understanding and I will come back to it in more detail while exploring the linking

mechanism between IM and personality.

The Outcome: A Trait-Like Orientation for Intrinsic Motivation

Motivational orientation is not solely a function of personal characteristics, on the other hand it arises from the

interaction of task features, individual characteristics, and situational aspects (Bumpus, Olberter & Glover,

1998), yet for the purpose of clarity and, developing link with personality later on, we now turn to a trait-like

profile of an individual high on IM.

For the purpose of developing such a profile, Pinder's definition of motivation should serve as a good start.

His definition reveals two important features; (1) motivation as energizing force or inducer of actions and (2)

this force has implications for form, direction, intensity and duration of behavior. In other words what they

(employees) are motivated to achieve? How will they achieve it? And when will they stop? (Meyer, Becker &

Vandenberghe, 2004). This revelation gives us a broad idea that an intrinsically motivated individual is goal-

oriented, achievement oriented and, is wise and well organized. And our profile of a high IM individual is based

on this broad idea and our earlier discussions on motivation literature.

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Human Resource Development (HRM-627)

A person high on IM is suggested to have the following characteristics:

· Challenge seeker

· Appreciative

Achievement oriented

· Hard worker

· Sympathetic

Persevering

· Learning oriented

· Pleasant

Planner

· Curious

· Not defensive

Reliable

· Competent

· Tactful

Industrious

· Enthusiastic

· Altruistic

Evangelists (zealous)

· Confident

· Moral

Mature

· Cheerful

· Thoroughness in decision

Precise

· Assertive

making

Independent

· Feeling of well being

· Energetic

Emotionally stable

· Perception of good health

· Experiencing positive

Brave

· Willful

emotions (PA)

Secure

· Spirit

· Dependable

Intelligent

· Flexible

· Thorough

Open to new ideas,

· Trusting

· Responsible

feelings

· Tolerant

· Organized

Insightful

A comparison of these traits with the multifaceted theory of intrinsic motivation (Reiss, 2004) and the sixteen

desires of Power, curiosity, independence, status, social contact, vengeance, honor, idealism, physical exercise,

romance, family, order, eating, acceptance, tranquility, and saving quite clearly shows that optimal fulfillment of

these desires is only possible by individuals who have the above mentioned characteristics ingrained in their

personalities.

Link Between Personality and Intrinsic Motivation: The Model

Our model in Figure 1 shows how personality can have impact on the levels of IM in an individual through the

agency of cognition, affect and values. Figure 1 is shown on next page: