organizational behaviour dave ludwick, p.eng, mba, pmp chapter 2 perceptions, personality &...

Organizational BehaviourDave Ludwick, P.Eng, MBA, PMP

Chapter 2Perceptions, Personality &

Emotions


What’s so important about perceptions?• Perception – a process by which individuals organize and

interpret their sensory impressions to give meaning to their environment

• People’s behaviour is based on their perceptions of reality, not reality itself

• Perception = reality + factors attributed to the target, the situation or the perceiver

• Perception is heavily influenced by– Attitudes

– Motives

– Interests

– Past experiences


Theories of Perception• Attribution Theory

– A theory proposed to develop explanations of the ways in which we judge people

– An example: an employee arriving late to work

• We may apply our previous experience to a situation to assist us in evaluating it

• We develop a “listening” for a person, a situation• This “listening” is intensified by emotion• Fundamental Attribution Error

– A tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors

– Example, a sports coach who is fired for poor team performance.– The coach is fired for their inability to motivate (internal) the team

(external)


Theories of Perception• Selective Perception

– We can’t observe everything going on around us. So we selectively perceive

– Exercise: I spy with my little eye….

– Selection is based on motives, interests, biases, previous experiences

• Halo Effect– When we draw a general impression of an individual based on a

single characteristic

• Contrast Effect– When we draw a general impression of an individual by

comparing them to others recently encountered


Theories of Perception• Projection

– When we attribute our own characteristics to other people

– This factor is what sometimes causes managers and senior executives to select senior managers similar to themselves

• Stereotyping– A short cut we use when we judge someone on the basis of our

perception of the group to which they belong


Field of Action• The field of action is the

arena of play

• It consists of people, circumstances, processes and communications

• A person peering in at Window A assumes they see everything and presume they are right about “everything”

• A person peering in at Window B sees something different, obviously not the same everything

Window AWindow B

people processes

Known to A and B

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown to A,known to B

Unknown to A,known to B

circumstances communications processes


So, why should we care?• Perception is one of the major ways in which we gather

information

• Our perceptions are influenced by various factors

• Sometimes the accuracy of our perception is compromised by these factors

• We must take action and make decision based on the information (or our interpretation of this info)

• A key area where our perceptions are critical is in the hiring phase

• Example: Are you too nice???


Personality• A dynamic concept describing the growth and

development of a person’s whole psychological system

• Personality determines one’s unique adjustments and reactions to a given situation

• Key elements of Personality– Dynamic – changes with various factors and conditions

– Unique – we are the sum of our experiences and background which requires us to uniquely respond to our environment

– Environment – the people, circumstances and our perceptions of those around us

• There are general 3 factors determining personality


What determines our Personality?• Heredity – these are factors determined at conception

(physical stature, gender, temperament, musculature,…)– Generally these factors will evolve through life to take on various

levels of influence

• Environment – the culture and conditioning norms in which we are raised– The environment affects our personality through how we

experience it

• Situation– An individual’s personality, although generally stable and

consistent, may be more effective in some situations than others– Different situations demand different aspects of our personalities

– How does free choice about how we react affect how we present ourselves?


Personality Traits• Characteristics of a person which are frequently displayed

in a wide variety of situations

• Myers Briggs Type Indicator describes personality traits based on 4 scales– Focus of attention (introverted vs. extroverted)

– Information Collection (Sensing systematically vs. intuition)

– Information Processing (Thinking objectively vs. Feeling subjectively

– Orientation to Others (Perceiving spontaneously vs. judging decisively)

• Do you know your type?– http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp


Another Personality Model• The Big Five Model

– A large body of research that proposes that there are 5 basic personality dimensions that underlie all others and which describe most of the significant variation in human personality

– Extroversion

– Agreeableness

– Conscientiousness

– Emotional Stability

– Openness to Experience


Personality Traits influencing OB• Locus of Control

– The degree to which a person feels they are in control of their destiny (Internals) vs. the impact of luck or chance (Externals)

– Generally externally focused individuals are less satisfied with their jobs and have higher absenteeism rates because they perceive themselves as having little control over organizational outcomes

– Internally focused people • attribute org. outcomes to themselves

• believe health is under their control through proper habits

• generally better at their jobs, more active in their jobs

• Better at managerial tasks and decision making


Personality Traits influencing OB• Machiavellianism

– Named for Niccolo Machiavelli

– An individual high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance and believes the ends justify the means

– Whether or not high Machs or low Machs excel in a job depends on the job

• Self Esteem– The degree to which people like or dislike themselves

– Generally related to expectations for success

– High SEs • believe they possess the abilities they need to succeed

• Will take more risks

– Low SEs are more susceptible to the influence of others


Personality Traits influencing OB• Self Monitoring

– An individual’s ability to adjust behaviour to external situation factors

– These people are sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situations

• Risk Taking– High risk takers make rapid decisions and use less info to make

choices

– Different jobs (stock broker vs. accountant, ambulance worker vs. doctor) will benefit from this trait differently


Personality Traits influencing OB• Type A Personality

– A person who is aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more in less time and required to do so against the opposing efforts of others

– Type As • do everything fast• Are impatient• Will try to multi-task• Believe in quantity over quality

– Type Bs • Not harried by the desire to compete• Don’t see the urgency• Do not see a need to discuss accomplishments• Generally are more confident in themselves and don’t feel the need to rush or

impress

• Which Type are you?– http://psychology.about.com/library/jv/bljv_pers.htm


So, why should we care?• Managers are hiring to fit a given job, but also recognize

the need for flexibility in a job

• As one would expect, the likelihood that someone will stay in a job is determined by the degree to which individuals match their personalities to the job

• Better matches mean – lower turn over and reduced costs of turn over

– Happier and more satisfied employees

– Greater productivity

• Check out page 55


Emotions• Emotions are intense feelings directed at someone or

something

• Moods are general feelings that are less intense or directed, may lack a specific stimulus, but might be longer lasting and more pervasive

• Emotional Labour refers to the effort required to express a particular set of emotions at work. Examples– Waiters/waitresses should be happy

– Lawyers should be concerned and critical

– Doctors should be concerned but also generally hopeful

• Energy is spent when the person’s true emotions do not match those which they need to display in the work place


Emotions• There are universally 6 emotions

– Anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise

– Napoleon Hill: The single biggest driver: The Emotion of Fear

– Anthony Robbins: There are two major influences: The pursuit of pleasure and The avoidance of pain. The desire to avoid pain (Fear) is the strongest of the two

• Fear is considered the opposite of Faith

• All human activity is considered to be born out of fear or desire


Emotional Intelligence (EI)• An assortment of skills and capabilities that influence a

person’s ability to cope with demands and pressures

• 5 Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence– Self-awareness – being aware of one’s feelings

– Self-management – ability to manage one’s emotions

– Self-motivation – ability to persist in the face of setbacks

– Empathy – ability to sense how others feel

– Social Skills – ability to handle the emotions of others

• So what does this mean: Some studies (p. 60) outline that those with high EI have been successful

• Indeed, those involved in jobs/roles with a high degree of social interaction would seem to benefit from high EI


Pulling it together• Perception – describes how we gather information

• Personality and emotion help dictate how we and others react to given situations

• Emotions can act as catalysts for our response to given situations

• All of these factors help to describe how well an individual will fit to a role

• Chapter 3

organizational behaviour dave ludwick, p.eng, mba, pmp chapter 2 perceptions, personality &...

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