Perception

WE DONT SEE THINGS

AS THEY ARE, WE SEE

THINGS AS WE ARE.
Young, or old?
Young, or old?
What Is Perception, and Why Is It
Important?
Perception
A process by which Peoples
Peoplesbehavior
behavior isis
individuals organize based
based on on their
their
and interpret their perception
perception of of what
what
sensory impressions reality
reality is,is, not
not onon
in order to give
reality
reality itself.
itself.
meaning to their
environment. The
The world
world as as itit isis
perceived
perceived isis thethe world world
that
that isis behaviorally
behaviorally
important.
important.
Sensation
 Factors influencing Perception
Factors in the perceiver
Attitudes
Motives
Interests
Experience
Expectations

Factors in the situation

Time Perception
Work Setting
Social Setting
Factors in the Target
Novelty
Motion
Sounds
Size
Background
Proximity
Similarity
7 Organizational
Behavior / Perception
 PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

Perceptual Perceptual
Perceptual throughputs
inputs Outputs

Stimuli Actions
Receiving->Selecting->Organising->Interpreting

Simplified process of perception

 Perceptual Process Selecting Stimuli
External factors : Nature,
Receiving Stimuli Location,Size,contrast,
(External & Internal) Movement,repetition,similarity
Internal factors : Learning,
needs,age,Interest,

Organizing
Interpreting Figure Background ,
Attribution ,Stereotyping, Perceptual Grouping
Halo Effect, Projection ( similarity, proximity,
closure, continuity)

Response
Covert: Attitudes ,
Motivation,
Feeling
Overt: Behavior
Organizational Behavior / Perception
9
Perceptual organization

It is the process by which we group outside stimuli into

recognizable and identifiable patterns and whole objects.

Certain factors are considered to be important contributors

on assembling, organizing and categorizing information in
the human brain. These are
Figure ground
Grouping
Simplification
Closure

Organizational Behavior / Perception

10
Figure-Ground Illustration
Field-ground differentiation
The tendency to distinguish
and focus on a stimulus that
is classified as figure as
opposed to background.

Organizational Behavior / Perception

11
Organizational Behavior / Perception
13
Organizational Behavior / Perception
14
15
16
PERCEPTUAL GROUPING
Our tendency to group several individual stimuli
into a meaningful and recognizable pattern.

Organizational Behavior / Perception

17
Simplification
When we are over loaded with information we try
to simplify it to make it more meaningful and
understandable.

Organizational Behavior / Perception

18
Closure
When we face with incomplete information we fill
the gap to make it more understandable

Organizational Behavior / Perception

19
Person Perception: Making Judgments
About Others

Attribution Theory
When individuals
observe behavior, they
attempt to determine
whether it is internally
or externally caused.

Distinctiveness:
Distinctiveness:shows
showsdifferent
differentbehaviors
behaviorsin
indifferent
different
situations.
situations.
Consensus:
Consensus:response
responseisisthe
thesame
sameasasothers
otherstotosame
same
situation.
situation.
Consistency:
Consistency:responds
respondsin inthe
thesame
sameway
wayover
overtime.
time.
Attribution Theory EEXXHHI IBBI I
TT 52
52
Errors and Biases in Attributions
Fundamental Attribution
Error
The tendency to
underestimate the influence
of external factors and
overestimate the influence
of internal factors when
making judgments about In general, we
the behavior of others. tend to blame
the person first,
not the
situation.
Errors and Biases in Attributions
(contd)
Self-Serving Bias
The tendency for
individuals to attribute
their own successes to Thought: When student
internal factors while gets an A on an
putting the blame for exam, they often say
failures on external they studied hard. But
when they dont do
factors. well, how does the self
serving bias come into
play?

Hint: Whose fault is it

usually when an exam
is tough?
Frequently Used Shortcuts in
Judging Others
Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see
on the basis of their interests, background,
experience, and attitudes.
Frequently Used Shortcuts in
Judging Others
Halo Effect
Drawing a general
impression about an
individual on the basis of
a single characteristic

Contrast Effects
Evaluation of a persons characteristics
that are affected by comparisons with
other people recently encountered who
rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics
Frequently Used Shortcuts in
Judging Others
Projection
Attributing ones
own characteristics
to other people.

Stereotyping
Judging someone on the
basis of ones
perception of the group
to which that person
belongs.
Specific Applications in
Organizations
Employment Interview
Perceptual biases of raters affect the accuracy of
interviewers judgments of applicants.
Performance Expectations
Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect): The lower or
higher performance of employees reflects preconceived
leader expectations about employee capabilities.
Ethnic Profiling
A form of stereotyping in which a group of individuals is
singled outtypically on the basis of race or ethnicity
for intensive inquiry, scrutinizing, or investigation.
Specific Applications in
Organizations (contd)
Performance Evaluations
Appraisals are often the subjective
(judgmental) perceptions of appraisers of
another employees job performance.
 The importance of perception in
managerial behaviour are :
i) Attitude formation: Perceiving
events and people is critical in attitude
formation. Perception creates a basis
for our attitudes, opinions, feelings,
beliefs and values.
ii) Relationship base : the managers
relationship with others are based on
perceptions of their basic natures and
motivations. Managers identify the
perceptual structures and implicit
personality of employees before
making work relations.
 iii) Effective communication :Any
message must be received and
interpreted before the communication
attempt is complete. Communication
remains ineffective if it does not
accomplish what the source intends.

iv) Employment interview

:Interviewers make perceptual
judgments, draw impressions and
arrive at conclusions about the
applicants. Thus perception is a major
input in their decision.
 v) Performance evaluation :An
employees performance appraisal is
very much dependent on the
perceptual outlook. The evaluator
forms a general impression of an
employees work. Thus, the perception
process significantly influences the
appraisal outcome.
vi) Employee effort : In many
organisations, assessment of an
employees effort is a subjective
judgment which is susceptible to
perceptual distortions and bias.
 vii)Employees loyalty :When
evaluating an employees loyalty, a
manager is involved with persons
perception. This is an important
judgement that managers make about
employees.

viii)Organisational goals :The

interpretation and accomplishment of
organisational goals again depend on
the philosophies and ideologies of
those who are expected to pursue
them.
 ix) Workers rights : The
interpretation of workers rights and
responsibilities is also dependent on
the ideological motives and beliefs of
managers.

x) Employees unions :Perception plays

a vital role in creating a better
understanding of unions by
management and vice-versa.
DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS
Following attempts can be made to
enhance perceptual skills.
1. Perceiving oneself accurately:
One should increase awareness
about self. For this, he should obtain
information on how others perceive
us from as many sources as possible.
By knowing. Perceiving and
understanding ourselves accurately,
we should remove blind spots about
self.
DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS.
2. Being empathic :
Empathy means being able to see a
situation as it is experienced by
others. A manager should be sensitive
to the needs of others and perceive
situations from their point of view as
well.
3. Having positive attitudes :
A manger should see things from
a positive angle, should be aware of
personal biases ad should try to get
rid of any negative feeling he may
have of others. This will help to put
things in proper perspective.
 DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS.

4. Enhancing self concept :

Self-concept or a good self image is a
function of how successfully we
accomplish the things we attempt to
do. When people perform roles where
they exhibit their competence and get
success, they develop a basic sense of
self esteem and have positive self
regard.
5. Communication more openly :
Managers should be able to
effectively communicate to employees
so that misconceptions can be
dispelled.
 DEVELOPING PERCEPTUAL
SKILLS.
6. Avoiding common biases in
perceptions : Managers should try to
considerably minimise their perceptual
biases. They should consciously raise
their level of awareness in their
interactions with situations.
7. Avoiding attributions :
Mangers should try to avoid making
inappropriate attributions and should
obtain as accurate as assessment of
the situation as possible so that
dysfunctional consequences can be
avoided.