Chapter 7

Perception and attitudes

What is perception?• Perception is not only about translating and

interpreting sensory data with senses and feelings,

• but also includes awareness, knowing and understanding.

• Psychologists distinguish between extracting information from environment, processing and organizing that information.

• We organize perceptions even as we select what to perceive, and interpret in an ongoing manner.

• Our perceptions shapes how we understand the world around us.

Figure 7.1 Some of the individual elements that contribute to our perception.

Selection• the process of choosing which

aspects of reality to notice– We notice things that stand out –

intense, large, unusual..– Change also draws attention

• selective attention is a result of the limited capacity of human brain to process information– as many things going on around us,

we can select on fast and almost unconsciously and subjectively

• The kind of information selected is strongly affected by: expectations, attitudes, values, interests, needs, intentions, language, experience, and knowledge.

• Every person has a unique filtering system, although there is some cultural overlap.

• Each individual’s filter depends on numerous elements including individual differences, development, socialization, education and culture.

Organization

• We don’t perceive randomly; cognitive schemata used to arrange perceptions

• Receiving and organization occur simultaneously

• Law of closure: Making sense of the whole through filling in the gaps

Interpretation

• The subjective process of creating explanations for what we observe and experience.– Attributions are explanations of why people act

as they do.– Attributions are subjective; they are not factual

explanation of others’ behavior.– We attribute own / others’ behavior to causes.

Perception as a series of processes• The bottom-up process is concerned with how we

process data form environment and filter out what is relevant to us (mostly in unfamiliar situations).

• Top-down processing is driven by existing knowledge or predetermined expectations. We tend to rely on top-down processing in familiar situations.– the danger of continuously relying it is to use exiting

perceptual map (idea, stereotype, etc.) about a person or situation at the expense of new information

– human beings are inclined to use it because it costs less cognitive resources (e.g., memory, attention) and quicker

Figure 7.2 Perceptual processing systems

Categorization and Stereotyping

• One type of top-down processing way of thinking – Stereotypes often are used when we think people in

categories : e.g., Chinese, women, elderly, etc.

• At times useful thinking short-cuts

• Can also lead us to serious errors, like– jumping into conclusions about people– resistance to increased workplace diversity– wars, genocides, ethnic cleansings

Effects of stereotypes:

• Self-fulfilling prophecies– We often pick up on others’ expectations for us (dictated

by a stereotype) and behave in that way– Poor performance then may confirm stereotype

• Stereotype threat – When a stereotype about us is made salient, in a

“performance” situation, we often feel under threat – which holds performance down

– e.g. women performing poorly on math/engineering

• Most people are ethnocentric and tend to use their own culture as the standard for defining "normal" or “natural", "correct". Out-group Homogeneity

• Many people are notoriously poor at processing large amounts of information, simply view in terms of "us" and "them". illusory correlation (i.e., overestimating confirming, underestimating disconfirming examples)

• Contact hypothesis proposes that under appropriate conditions interpersonal contact is one of the most effective ways to reduce prejudice between groups.

STREOTYPES ABOUT TURKS: BEFORE AND AFTER (Alvarez, İnelmen & Yarcan, 2009)

Table 3. A comparison of opinions about Turks’ characteristics (N = 98)

Attributes North American (n = 53) Pacific (n = 45)

Pre-travel Post-travel

t p Pre-travel Post-travel

t p

Modernity 2.90a 3.33 2.601 .012 2.73 3.20 3.427 .001

Helpfulness 4.04 4.48 3.684 .001 4.12 4.28 1.480 .146

Gentleness 3.83 4.17 3.066 .004 3.69 3.88 1.242 .221

Calmness 3.42 3.85 3.005 .004 3.29 3.51 1.355 .183

Sensitivity 3.58 3.96 2.945 .005 3.61 3.76 1.062 .295

Honesty 3.66 4.04 2.444 .018 3.54 3.71 0.980 .333

Hospitability 4.14 4.41 2.158 .036 4.07 4.14 0.553 .583

Educatedness 3.20 3.45 2.046 .047 3.15 3.20 0.361 .720

Secularism 3.33 3.68 1.798 .080 3.23 3.59 2.483 .018

Flexibility 3.35 3.70 1.950 .058 3.20 3.45 1.916 .063

Open-mindedness 3.20 3.45 1.476 .147 3.05 3.28 1.548 .130

Hard working 3.72 3.98 1.771 .083 3.68 3.73 0.443 .660

Person perception• How we process and make meaning about our encounters; how do we decide about others?

• Why did others act as they did?

• We make attributions about others’ actions – and about our own– Salience effect: we focus attention on those that are different – Confirmatory bias: seeking information that confirms our prejudgments– Social status effect: higher status perceived to be more positive

“self-fulfilling prophecy”

• People often act in ways consistent with expectations or judgments.– Can be positive or negative.

• Such stereotypes may create fear, which often effects the stereotyped group to live up accordingly.

• Several others biases (e.g., halo, primacy, recency ) are also common in perception and often observed in selection and assessment.• glass-celling effect

Attribution theory• Attribution is a specific type of perception, defined as

ascribing a cause for an observed action.

• Kelly: a social psychologist developed the theory– we specifically look for ways that events co-vary: “cause

and effect” causal attributions

• There are 2 types of attributions– Situational attributions (situational demands, contextual constrains)

and Dispositional attributions (internal, traits, abilities, emotions)

Figure 7.5 The attribution continuum• Do others in the same situation behave the same way?• Was the behavior we observed distinctive (a one-off)?• Has the person’s behavior always been like this?

Figure 7.6 Attribution – what causes behavior?

Actor observer biases

• Fundamental attribution error: observer often attribute something that happens to personality rather than circumstances

• Defensive attribution (self-serving bias)

• Cultural differences

Individualistic vs. Collectivistic

• fundamentally independent

• actions driven by internal needs, desires, emotions, private goals

• conformity toward norms is not a must

• interdependence; group harmony especially valued

• obligations toward extended family / community

• deviations are frowned upon

People’s attribution patterns differ across cultures

• In an individualistic culture, the most common error made is the fundamental attribution error: a bias to explain others’ behavior by attributing it to their disposition, our own to our situation

• In collectivistic cultures: focus on group actions / situational explanations to explain behavior

A Study of European vs. Hindu Americans

• Scenario: A motorcycle accident, the driver has done less than he could for the other person and drove to work.

• European Americans: “obviously irresponsible” or “in a state of shock”

• Hindu Americans: “duty to be at work” or “other person's injuries were not so bad”

Attitudes

• An attitude is a predisposition to act or feel a certain way towards a person or thing.

• Cover a wide range of topics about which we may feel quite strongly: nuclear power, abortion, bilingual education, etc.

Attitudes

• are less stable than values or personality

• are towards an "attitude object“, i.e., a person, behavior, or event.

• can change as a “function of experience”

• People can also be "ambivalent" towards a target, meaning that they simultaneously possess a positive and a negative attitude.

Attitude Formation

• Occur as a result of…– Classical conditioning

• Advertising for expensive car always accompanied by beautiful surroundings/people.

– Instrumental conditioning• If a reward given for behavior, attitude for that

behavior will change.– Observational learning

• A respected or appealing person endorses particular behavior / gaining some benefit.

Resistance to Attitude Change

• Attitudes often are developed early in life and held for long periods of time,

• have been successfully held/ rewarded/ reinforced,• have been expressed publicly,• are central to other attitudes • and RESISTANT to change.

– If a possible change seems inconsistent,– If change is wanted by a source of low credibility,– If fear is used to force change, attitudes are RESISTANT.

AttitudesEvaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Three components of an attitude:

The emotional or The emotional or feeling segment feeling segment of an attitudeof an attitudeThe opinion or The opinion or

belief segment of belief segment of an attitudean attitude An intention to An intention to

behave in a certain behave in a certain way toward someone way toward someone or somethingor something

Organizational Commitment

Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, and wishing to maintain membership in the organization.

ORG. COMM.

ORG. COMM.

ABSENTEEISM & TURNOVER

PERFORMANCE &

OCB

NEGATIVE

POSITIVE

Organizational Commitment• Three Component Model:

• Affective – emotional attachment to organization• Normative - moral or ethical obligations • Continuance Commitment – economic value of staying

• Research shows generational differences between Xer and Millennial hospitality employees’ intention to stay (İnelmen, Zeytinoglu, Uygur, 2012).

• Xer’s rely on normative, whereas Millennials rely on affective commitment and pay satisfaction when making their decision to stay.

Does behavior always follow from attitudes?

• NO! Research shows that attitudes predict future behavior only when:

1. Strength (important attitudes have a strong relationship); accessibility (quickly comes to mind) and ambivalence (conflict between positive and negative attitudes).

2. The closer the match between attitude and behavior, the stronger the relationship attitudes based on personal experience are stronger predictor

3. Behavior are often spontaneous and situational influences or bias color behavior.

• We try to resolve that “cognitive inconsistency” through the process of bringing attitudes in line with our behavior.

• Some examples: If individuals by the demands of their job say

or do things that contradict their personal attitude, they will tend to modify that particular attitude to make it more compatible with what they have said or done.

Figure 7.8 The theory of planned behavior Source: Ajzen (1991)

Job Satisfaction

• An individual’s general attitude towards his/her job.

• A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds toward his or her job.

• A high level of job satisfaction equals positive attitudes toward the job and vice versa.

Facets Related to Job Satisfaction1. PAY (PROMOTION)• Satisfaction with Distributive Amount of Pay• Satisfaction with Procedures Used to Determine Pay• Satisfied with Promotional Opportunities

2. POLICIES• Organizational Participation—voice in the critical decision that

effect one’s job

3. SUPERVISION• Perceived quality of supervision-treat people with dignity and

respect—interpersonal sensitivity• Appropriate employee centered and structuring behavior

4. JOB AND WORK SETTING• Work load-quantitative and qualitative overload• Jobs that have some variation in activities and are meaningful

5. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

6. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT• Relationships with co-workers and team members

7. PERSONAL DETERMINANTS (INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES)

• Positive /Negative Affectivity– Personality trait-- High positive affectivity-- people more

likely to experience positive moods, are more likely to experience job satisfaction.

Affective Events Theory (AET)• demonstrates that employees

react emotionally to things that happen to them at work and this can influence their job performance and job satisfaction. – Personality and mood determine

response intensity

– Emotions can influence a broad range of work variables.

– The intensity of these responses will be based on emotion and mood.

Affective Events Theory (AET)

E X H I B I T 4–6E X H I B I T 4–6Source: Based on N.M. Ashkanasy and C.S. Daus, “Emotion in the Workplace: The New Challenge for Managers,” Academy of Management Executive, February 2002, p. 77.