Perception 2007

Perception Process of receiving, selecting, organizing, interpreting, checking and reacting to sensory stimuli or data

Definition 

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

Perceptual process PERCEIVER

RECEIVING

SELECTING

ORGANISING

REACTING

CHECKING

INTERPRETING

SITUATION

Factors influencing perception

Factors in the situation Time Work setting Social setting

Factors in the individual Attitudes Motives Interests Experience Expectation PERCEPTION

Factors in the target Novelty Motion Sounds Size & Background Proximity Similarity

Attribution theory 

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When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused Internally- believed to be under the personal control of the individual Externally-forced into the behavior by the situation

Determinates 

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Distinctiveness– individual plays different behavior in different situation Consensus—similar situation responds in the same way Consistency—person respond the same way over time

Error and biasness in attribution theory 

Attribution error- tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors at the time of making judgment

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Self-serving bias- attribute their own success to internal factors and putting the blame for failures on external factors

Shortcuts in judgment 

Selective perception— perceive on the basis of their interest, background, experience, and attitudes

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Halo effect— drawing a general impression about an individual on the basis of single characteristics

Contd.. 

Contrast effects- evaluation of a person characteristics that are affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics

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Projection—attributing one’s own characteristics to other people

Contd.. 

Stereotyping-judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs

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Perceptual defense- an individual is likely to put a defense when confronted with conflicting, unacceptable or threating stimuli

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Implicit personality theory– perceptions are influenced by his belief that human traits are associated with one another Process of checking— to check whether his interpretations are right or wrong Process of reacting -perceived as negative or positive for action

Specific applications in organization     

Employment interview Performance expectation Ethnic profiling Performance evaluation Employee effort

Self fulfilling prophecy 

A person influencing the behavior of another person by actions related to his/her expectations

SFP cycle 

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Begins with a perception or stereotype of another person With the perception behaves toward the other person as though the perception is true Expectation is reinforced by the results of the situation that other person has been placed in

Elements of SFP    

Socialization-our life education process Perceptions-trying to make sense out of a situation Stereotypes-rigid over-generalizations Prejudice-the judgment you make and beliefs you hold about people and situations based on your socialization

Social identity theory 

A conceptual framework based on the idea that how we perceive the world depends on how we define ourselves in terms of our membership in various social groups.

Application in organization 

Selection-the interviewer’s judgment about the suitability of a candidate depends on how his behavior is perceived by them

Factors in selection process 

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Feelings-attachment of attributes to candidate that don’t actually exist Negative bent- overlook his/her strengths Stereotyping- focus on job rather than personal traits Mind-set- background, attitudes, motives, values aspirations & biases

Contd.. 

Halo-effect- to generalize one outstanding feature of a candidate as representative of success in any endeavor

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Chemistry- rapport between two people can contaminate the interview

Performance appraisal 

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Assessment of an employee’s performance depends on the perception of the person who evaluates Employee evaluation is a mix of both subjective and objective criteria Subjective measure are judgmental and are more open to managers discretion

Contd.. 

Assessment of an individual’s effort to subjective judgment susceptible to perceptual distortion and bias; employee loyalty and commitment

Marketing & advertisement 

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Marketing is all about people perceptions Perceptions of the customer about the product, service and the company determine the approach to advertisement, promotion mix and packaging of the product & services

Perception and individual decision making  

Rational decision making Creativity in decision making

Rational decision making 

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Define the problem– problem clarity Identify the decision criteria— known options Allocate weights to the criteria— clear preferences Develop the alternatives

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Evaluate the alternatives- time or cost constraints Select the best alternatives– maximum payoff

Creativity in decision making Task motivation

expertise

Creativity skills

Decisions in organization 

Bounded rationality – Individuals make decision by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity.

Common biases      

Overconfidence bias Anchoring bias Confirmation bias Availability bias Representative bias Escalation of commitment bias

Ethics in decision making    

Utilitarianism Individual rights Justice Ethics and national culture