The Effect of Personality on Motivation and Organisational Behaviour

Abstract

This paper performs a literature review on the topic ‘the effect of personality on motivation and organisational behaviour.’ The main research questions under investigation were does personality affect motivation and organisational behaviour, and does personality affect organisational behaviour. As a literature review paper, it consulted already published sources on the topic from popular journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Research in Personality, Academy of management review, and Journal of Organizational Behaviour. The study then went ahead to perform a theoretical review of personality theories where the traits theory, the psychoanalytic, the humanistic, and the social cognitive theories were outlined. In the findings section, the review determined that personality has an influence on motivation through personal emotional stability, level of aggression, and extrovert or introvert characteristics of workers. It was also found that personality has a significant effect on organisational behaviour by influencing organisational tolerance, work environment, and work ethics. It was concluded that personality is an important topic that should be considered by management as they strive to improving motivation of workers and optimising organisational behaviour at the workplace.