Perception involves the way we view the world around us. It adds, meaning to information gathered via the five senses of touch, smell, hearing, vision and taste. Perception is the primary vehicle through which we come to understand our surroundings and ourselves.

Perception

“ Perception is the process of receiving information about and making sense of the world around us. It involves deciding which information to notice, how to categorize this information and how to interpret it within the framework of existing knowledge.

“ A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?

•People’s behavior is People’s behavior is based on their based on their perception of what perception of what reality is, not on reality is, not on reality itself.reality itself.

•The world as it is The world as it is perceived is the world perceived is the world that is behaviorally that is behaviorally important.important.

•People’s behavior is People’s behavior is based on their based on their perception of what perception of what reality is, not on reality is, not on reality itself.reality itself.

•The world as it is The world as it is perceived is the world perceived is the world that is behaviorally that is behaviorally important.important.

5 Organizational Behavior / Perception

Factors influencing Perception

Factors in the perceiver• Attitudes• Motives• Interests• Experience• Expectations

Perception

Factors in the Target• Novelty• Motion• Sounds• Size• Background• Proximity• Similarity

Factors in the situation• Time• Work Setting• Social Setting

Receiving Stimuli(External & Internal) Selecting Stimuli

Organizing Figure Background ,Perceptual Grouping( similarity, proximity,closure, continuity)

ResponseCovert: Attitudes ,

Motivation,Feeling

Overt: Behavior

Perceptual Process

Interpreting Attribution ,Stereotyping,

Halo Effect, Projection

Perceptual organizationPerceptual organization

It is the process by which we group outside stimuli into recognizable and identifiable patterns and whole objects.

Figure-Ground IllustrationFigure-Ground Illustration

Field-ground differentiation– The tendency to distinguish

and focus on a stimulus that is classified as figure as opposed to background.

Figure and ground

Figure and ground

PERCEPTUAL GROUPING

Our tendency to group several individual stimuli into a meaningful and recognizable pattern.

It is very basic in nature and largely it seems to be inborn.

Some factors underlying grouping are

-continuity

-closure

-proximity

-similarity

The Vertical lines are both the same length.

                         

The center circles are both the same size.

                                               

What is attribution theory?

Attribution theory aids in perceptual interpretation by focusing on how people attempt to: Understand the causes of a certain

event. Assess responsibility for the outcomes

of the event. Evaluate the personal qualities of the

people involved in the event.

Attribution Theory: Judging OthersAttribution Theory: Judging Others

Our perception and judgment of others is significantly influenced by our assumptions of the other person’s internal state.

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

• Internal causes are under that person’s control• External causes are not – person forced to act in that

way

Causation judged through:– Distinctiveness – Consensus - Response is the same as others to

same situation.– Consistency - Responds in the same way over

time.

Elements of Attribution TheoryElements of Attribution Theory

Distictiveness

YesHigh

ConsistencyNo

LowConsistency

NoLow

Consensus

YesHigh

Consensus

LowDistinctiveness(person does

not behave differently in different situations)

HighDistinctiveness(person behaves

differently in different situation.)

ConsensusDo other person

Behave in the Same manner?

ConsistencyDoes this person

behave in this

manner at this situation?

Internal Attribution

ExternalAttribution

Kelley’s Model

External AttributionHigh consensus

High distinctiveness

Low consistency

Internal AttributionLow consensusLow distinctivenessHigh consistency

Errors and Biases in AttributionsErrors 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 the behavior of others. In general, we

tend to blame the person first, not the situation.

Errors and Biases in Attributions (cont’d)Errors and Biases in Attributions (cont’d)

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors.

Thought: When student gets an “A” on an exam, they often say they studied hard. But when they don’t do well, how does the self serving bias come into play?

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging OthersFrequently 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 OthersFrequently 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 person’s 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 OthersFrequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Projection

Attributing one’s own characteristics to other people. We assume that others are similar to us.

Stereotyping

Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.

Specific Applications in OrganizationsSpecific Applications in Organizations

Employment Interview– Perceptual biases of raters affect the accuracy

of interviewers’ judgments of applicants. Performance Expectations

– Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect): If manager asks for high performance-----performance will be high or vice versa

Expectations become reality Ethnic Profiling

– A form of stereotyping in which a group of individuals is singled out—typically on the basis of race or ethnicity—for intensive inquiry, scrutinizing, or investigation.

Performance Evaluations– Appraisals are often the subjective (judgmental)

perceptions of appraisers of another employee’s job performance.