Perception & Attribution

Dr. Daisy Chauhan

SIGNIFICANCE OF PERCEPTION

Perception is important in the study of OB because peoples behaviour is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.

An important feature of Perception is to understand that it is a unique interpretation of the situation/event or person, not the exact recording of it. Thus it may be quite different from the reality.

PERCEPTION
Perception is the process by which people select, organise, interpret and respond to information from the world around them. It is a psychological process by which people make sense of their world. Through perception people process information inputs into responses involving feelings and action (behaviour)

PERCEPTUAL SELECTION
Individuals tend to selectively pay attention to some aspects of the environment and selectively ignore other aspects. Selective Screening is the process by which people filter out most information so that they can deal with the most important matters.

ASPECTS OF PERCEPTION
SOCIAL PERCEPTION : (Perception of Others) How an Individual perceives other individuals IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT: (Self Presentation) How an individual attempts to manage or control the perceptions others form about him/her

Learning & Motivation

Learning/Experience: Successful managers need to rise above their own experiences and limitations and think beyond the obvious and familiar. Motivation: Perceive things that satisfy the more urgent needs and desires and that which has been rewarding in the past.

Factors Influencing Interpretation

Perceptual Set Perceptual Defense (protect oneself against ideas, objects or situations
that are threatening or to deal with conflicting messages)

Stereotyping (gender, age, race, ethnicity, caste) Halo Effect/Horn Effect Contrast Effect Projection (project ones own feelings, personality characteristics, attitudes or
motives onto others)

Expectancy Effect Self Fulfilling prophesy, Pygmalion Effect

Self-fulfilling Prophecy Cycle

Superior forms expectations about employee

Employees behaviour become consistent with superiors expectations Superiors behaviour affects abilities & selfefficacy Expectations affect superiors behaviour toward employee

Person Perception
Primacy Effect : First information
Pay less attention to subsequent information Ignore information that contradicts with the first impression

Recency Effect: Most recent information dominates

earlier information loses significance

ATTRIBUTION
Finding an explanation to the cause of ones own and others behaviour. Fundamental Attribution Error Tendency to incorrectly attribute the negative behaviour of other people to internal more than external factors. Self-serving Bias Tendency to attribute favourable outcomes to internal factors and unfavourable ones to external factors.

FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRIBUTION To be able to decide whether a behaviour is internally caused or externally caused the following three factors could be considered: Consistency (Same manner in similar situations) Distinctiveness (same manner in different situations) Consensus (faced with the same situation, others behave in
similar manner)

THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

EXTERNAL STIMULI OBSERVATION (Sight, Hearing, Smell, Touch, Taste)

PERCEPTUAL SELECTION Int. Factors, Ext. Factors

PERCEPTUAL ORGANISATION Perceptual Grouping (Similarity, Proximity Closure,

Figure-Ground)

INTERPRETATION Perceptual Errors Attributions

Stereotyping Halo Effect Projection Expectancy Effect Internal vs External Causes for Success/ Failure

RESPONSE Covert Overt

Attitudes Motivations Feelings Behaviour

Impression Management
An attempt by an individual to manipulate or control the impression that others form about them Impression Tactics:
Behavioural Matching Self Promotion Conforming to Norms Flattering others Being consistent

Specific Applications in Organisations

Interviews
Interviewers make perceptual judgments Interviewers generally draw early impressions about candidates Primacy Effect Interviewers tend to make comparisons - Contrast Effect Performance Expectations Self-fulfilling prophecy high expectations lead to high performance and vice versa Performance Evaluation Recency Effect: In performance appraisal most recent information gains significance over earlier information Performance appraisal takes into account objective criteria but there is also a subjective element in assessing individuals. Employee Effort Assessment of an individuals effort is a subjective judgment.

Specific Applications in Organisations

Performance Expectations Self-fulfilling prophecy high expectations lead to high performance and vice versa. Positive Self-fulfilling Prophecy can be used as a valuable strategy to maximise employee performance and help them to realise their potential

Perceptual Biases: Cause discrimination Wrong selection/placement Career limitations Improper utilisation of employees Employee potential remaining untapped