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PERCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF BEHAVIOR

CHAPTER 3

@ZURAIDAH MOHAMED ISA/UiTM KEDAH/2008

PERCEPTION

• The process of creating an internal representation of the external world by selecting, receiving, organizing and interpreting the info from it

What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?

•• PeoplePeople’’s behavior is 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.

Perception

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

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Factors ThatInfluence Perception

E X H I B I T 5–1

TARGET CHARACTERISTICS• Target is the person, object, place or thing

where the perception is made on.• The characteristics are:

– Motion action, movement, signal.– Intensity forceful of feeling or things.– Novelty new, unusual.– Sound melody, things that can be heard.– Size how small or big of something.– Background conditions that existed before

or something seen or heard behind of other thing.

(cont’d)• Example:

“A red flash on nurse station console receives attention because:– It is bright (intensity)– It is flashing (motion)– it is a rare event (novelty)

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PERCEIVER CHARACTERISTICS

• It is the person who is making the perception on the target.

• The characteristics are:– Attitudes Ali likes small class so that he can ask

questions, but Ahmad prefer anonymity of a large class.

– Motives unsatisfied needs encourage a person to fulfill it.

– Interest engineer looks things from technical pt of view compared to doctors.

– Past experience things or events related to oneself.– Expectations expect to see what we want to see.

ORGANIZING PERCEPTUAL DATA

• Figure and Ground – refers to the tendency to be able to distinguish a central object from its surroundings

• Set – is the tendency to respond to a situation in term of prior information acquired rather than what actually exists

• Gestalt – is the tendency to avoid the discomfort of unorganized information by assigning to it overall meaning

• Attribution – is the tendency to try to understand behavior of a person or events by interpreting them as caused by certain environmental factors

OPTICAL ILLUSION

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OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSION

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OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

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OPTICAL ILLUSION

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTION

• Stereotypes• Halo effects• Selective perception• Projection• Expectancy

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Selective Perception

People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, background, experience, and attitudes.

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PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS1. Selective Perception

– People selectively interpret what they see on basis of their interest, background, experience & attitudes.

– E.g. some employees may be reprimanded (object/disapprove) by their boss for doing something that done by another employee and goes unnoticed.

– This happen because people take in bits & pieces, & that bits & pieces are selectively chosen according to people’s interest, background, experiences & attitudes.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONSSelective Perception– People selectively interpret what they see on

basis of their interest, background, experience & attitudes.

– E.g. some employees may be reprimanded (object/disapprove) by their boss for doing something that done by another employee and goes unnoticed.

– This happen because people take in bits & pieces, & that bits & pieces are selectively chosen according to people’s interest, background, experiences & attitudes.


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.

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2. Halo Effect– One’s general impression of a person usually

based on one’s prominent (something that easily be seen) characteristics, biases one’s perception pf other characteristics of that person.

– E.g. if we meet a client who speaks in a friendly manner, we tend to infer a host of other favorable qualities about that client.

– It is most likely occur when concrete info abt a target is missing or we have insufficient info abtthe target. Thus, perceiver tend to use his/her general impression of the target to fill in the missing info.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS

2. Halo Effect– One’s general impression of a person usually

based on one’s prominent (something that easily be seen) characteristics, biases one’s perception pf other characteristics of that person.

– E.g. if we meet a client who speaks in a friendly manner, we tend to infer a host of other favorable qualities about that client.

– It is most likely occur when concrete info abt a target is missing or we have insufficient info abtthe target. Thus, perceiver tend to use his/her general impression of the target to fill in the missing info.



Projection

Attributing one’s own characteristics to other people.

Stereotyping

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

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3. Projection Bias– It is when one tend to believe that other people

hold the same beliefs & attitudes that one does.

– E.g. if we want a challenging task & responsibility, we might think other people want or feel the same.

– Projection bias is usually a defense mechanism to protect our self-esteem. E.g. if we break a rule, projection bias could justify our claim that “everyone breaks it too”.


4. Stereotyping– A process of assigning traits to people based

on their membership to a social category.– In other words, stereotype defines people by

the demographic & organizational groups to which people belong to.

– Stereotypes are easy to confirm because they include abstract personality traits that is supported by ambiguous behaviors.

– But, it does not accurately describe every person in the social categories & stereotyped perceiver often ignore or misinterpret info that is inconsistent with the stereotype.


4. Stereotyping– A process of assigning traits to people based

on their membership to a social category.– In other words, stereotype defines people by

the demographic & organizational groups to which people belong to.

– Stereotypes are easy to confirm because they include abstract personality traits that is supported by ambiguous behaviors.

– But, it does not accurately describe every person in the social categories & stereotyped perceiver often ignore or misinterpret info that is inconsistent with the stereotype.


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3. Projection Bias– It is when one tend to believe that other people

hold the same beliefs & attitudes that one does.

– E.g. if we want a challenging task & responsibility, we might think other people want or feel the same.

– Projection bias is usually a defense mechanism to protect our self-esteem. E.g. if we break a rule, projection bias could justify our claim that “everyone breaks it too”.

MGT 321 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR


MANAGING THE PERCEPTION PROCESS

• Have a high level of self-awareness• Seek information from various sources to confirm or

disconfirm personal impressions of a decision situation• Be empathetic – that is, able to see a situation as it is

perceived by other people• Influence the perceptions of other people when they are

drawing incorrect or incomplete impressions of events in the work setting

• Avoid common perceptual distortions that bias our views of people and situations

• Avoid inappropriate attributions

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