Implicit Personality Theory - Coursework Example

Running Head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Human Resource Management Surname Tutor Course Date Human Resource Management Implicit personality theory which is commonly abbreviated as IPA is the study of how people normally appraise ideas, opinions, feelings and convictions of others as what it contributes to their current behaviour. These expectations are often created when we have a general perception of the traits that an individual possesses and the character that such a person portrays from the outside. An individual is generally considered by many people as a happy person when he is known to be a friendly person, people who are quit are often considered shy and harmless (Fein and Kassin 2008, pp. 71). Such general perceptions contribute to the development of the implicit personality theory in human beings. In normal circumstances people hold a network of assumptions that revolve around various traits and general behaviours. Such behaviours and traits are what it contributes to how the personality of an individual is often regarded and the attachments that such an individual will be given. Implicit theories form the basis of the placement of an individual in the society. With regard to social identity and prejudice, implicit theories are a source of behaviours that an individual will exhibit in a certain scenario where he is supposed to be rated. When coming up with differences and similarities of inter-group and intra-group stereotyping, the roles of particular individuals can be differentiated in such a manner that each individual is shown as different from the other. Several experiments by several psychologists have shown that implicit personality theory is a key factor in determining the performance of an individual in a group. It is with this regard therefore that, implicit theories contribute so much to the development of traits that are considered to be the source of characteristics which assessors are looking at when they are recruiting (Thornton and Rupp 2006, pp. 19). The recruitment and selection process often involves building up some perceptions about the candidates. The personality traits that individuals carry with them into the organization are very important because they indicate whether they will perform well in the job or absence of some aspect which is very critical in the organization. An individual whose personality for instance, is warm is expected to behave well in the organization but there is danger with his work because he might be too lenient. An individual who is cold and possesses some aspect of confusion in his life is thought to be very rude and can act negatively towards the managers in the organization. Such people however, have a very strong character that implies working with no fear or leniency towards meeting the goal of the organization (Fein and Kassin 2008, pp. 81). Since the entire process of selecting implies going through a thorough process which may involve the candidates being given a test, it is important for the assessors to be well equipped with skills of analyzing the behaviours of individuals so that in case of poor performance other special methods of determining the presence of some skills in these individuals can be sought. Psychological knowledge needs to be applied in every aspect of the selection process because through this, the candidates character can be observed, recorded and be used in future for promotion and assigning of other activities (Fein and Kassin 2008, pp. 71). Many psychologists have found out that implicit personality in the selection process often occurs as a result of the error of central tendency. This is a situation whereby almost all the candidates are treated at almost the same level basing on scores which have been got in a test. The panel often has a difficult time to document individuals in an interview especially when there are many individuals who have lower scores. The cognitive, political and organizational limitations often aid the administration in looking for the right candidate so as to take up a particular job (Fein and Kassin 2008, pp. 69). Implicit personality also suggests that there is often a general judgment made by people against another individual. This perception of the whole individual with an assumption made from a small piece of data which is often stereotyping based on impressions that have been developed from the look of a person tends to give very limited about a person since they justify the behaviour of that person through global opinions rather than actually gauging the performance (Goldstein 2002, pp. 218). When recruiting and selecting individuals for a particular job, it is important that there is a mutual agreement between the views of the various parties involved because there are conflicting role expectations which the candidates are expected to play (Fein and Kassin 2008, pp. 81). In many organizations, sufficient information needs to be sought so as to determine the characteristics of a particular individual. Little information can be a leeway to false information of that particular candidate which might be a danger to the firm in future. If the evaluators could take the process of evaluating others as part of the recruitment process, a greater part of this process would be unfair (Thornton and Rupp 2006, pp. 20). This is because the process of judging a person by developing some perceptions about him or her is not a formal notion for evaluating that particular person. Because there exists no such a thing as infallible judgment based on the opinions merely created in the mind of individuals, it becomes a violation of human rights to let an individual go out of the recruitment process with very insufficient data obtained from them. Implicit personality theories act like the schema driven theory in the work place where recruitment and selection process needs to be done. These theories suggest that there are a limited capabilities that are available so as a vast array of stimuli from the environment can be exposed. We are therefore supposed to attend to only a few events so that we can bring out the whole picture of what is happening. A schema refers to a picture, belief or a model that is drawn in our mental part of our bodies when we are looking at the occurrence of a phenomenon. According to this theory, the selective and recruitment process operates in a predictable way and therefore employees are taken in to work in a firm basing on some particular predictions of their character (Goldstein 2002, pp. 218). Further, this theory indicates that the past information or character of a person that we observed can be very useful because it makes us to draw a complete picture of that particular individual (Goldstein 2002, pp. 218). The process whereby people are classified and observed according to their behaviors can be influenced by schemas in a great way. Assessors for instance, would often make faulty decisions which are biased due to bad classification schemes. In order for the schema theory to work very well, it is important that the schemes that assessors develop need to be devices which can help simplify the observations we make into meaningful categories. The associations which the assessors make, the categories that we make and the general conclusions that we make can be artificially created by our implicit personality theories that we create over others in the society (Goldstein 2002, pp. 218). Tests are an important tool for use when assessing individuals. This is because they help to determine the speed and the rate with which the employees can perform their duties if given the chance. Cognitive theories created by development of schemas in the mind of an individual are ways of reducing the cognitive load that the assessors sometimes experience. This is because the process of reporting the behaviours that an individual has involves the creation of schemas in the mind of an individual (Schyns and Meindl 2005, pp. 25). When presenting the report of the selection process, assessors need to rely heavily on the notes they took when they were observing the exercises taken by the employees. This implies recalling some specific behaviour that these individuals had when they were on training. According to the schema theory, the mind of a person is composed of abstract interpretations or representations on events that one has witnessed before (Schyns and Meindl 2005, pp. 27). The process of scaling and deciding which candidate is the best for the job selected is so much influenced by schemas. The schema driven theory implies that people develop and use simple principles which are guided by judgments about others. The theory indicates that we often make judgments based on the little information that we obtain from other sources. Research has indicated that the internal expressions that we hold rather than the detailed episodes that we observe in human beings are more important than any other factor in the selection process. The most common schema that assessors use to select is the general impression of the assessee. The most common form of inferring the behaviours of human beings is through the inferential process. Bibliography Fein, S. and Kassin, S.2008. Social Psychology Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company (2) 67-82 Goldstein, D. 2002. Testing and Forming Implicit Personality Theories in selection process. Teaching of Psychology. (2) 216-218. Schyns, B. and Meindl, J. 2005, Implicit leadership theories: essays and explorations, IAP Press. (6) 6-32 Thornton, G. and Rupp, D. 2006 Center for Assessment in human resource management: strategies for diagnosis, prediction and development, Routledge, (1) 217-327 Read More