ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: AN EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH EIGHTH EDITION Joyce S. Osland

PART 2 CREATING EFFECTIVE WORK GROUPS

Chapter 9 ­ Perception and Attribution

OBJECTIVES:A. Define perception and explain the perceptual process.

1. Perception is the process by which we select, organize, and evaluate the stimuli in ourenvironment to make it meaningful for ourselves.2. Selective attention means that people perceive only some of the stimuli that is actuallypresent.3. Both internal factors (motives, values, interests, attitudes, past experiences, andexpectations) and external factors (motion, intensity, size, novelty, and salience) affect whatwe perceive.4. Perceived stimuli is organized into patterns, such as opposites, cause­and­effectrelationships, and schemas.5. Schemas are BUSI2101­Week2­LectureNotesBUSI2101­Week2­LectureNotescognitive frameworks that represent organized knowledge about a givenconcept, event, or type of stimulus. Once established, they determine what stimuli we attendto and remember.

6. People evaluate and interpret the stimuli they perceive in a subjective fashion.7. Social identity theory is based on the belief that people tend

(1) to perceive themselves and others in terms of social categories rather than asindividuals (social categorization);(2) to assess the relative worth of groups as well as individuals by comparing them(social comparison); and(3) to perceive and respond to the world not as detached observers but in terms oftheir identity, which depends on the social groups to which they belong (socialidentification).

B. Identify the sources of misinterpretation in cross­cultural interactions.8. Stereotyping occurs when we attribute behavior or attitudes to a person on the basis ofthe group or category to which the person belongs.13. Three sourceBUSI2101­Week2­LectureNotess of misinterpretation in cross­culturalinteractions are

(1) subconscious cultural blinders;(2) lack of cultural self­awareness; and(3) projected similarity.

14. The D.I.E. model teaches people to distinguish among description, interpretation, andevaluation of cultural behavior. Description is the safest response because interpretation and

evaluation are likely to result in misattributions or negative evaluations.

C. Understand both the benefits and the drawbacks of the perceptual process.9. The drawbacks to perception are that it prevents us from taking in everything we should,makes our interpretations open to question, and promotes stereotypes.10. On the positive side, the process of perception limits, selects, and organizes stimuli thatwould otherwise overwhelm us.

D. Recognize common perceptual errors.

11. There are numerous perceptual distortions to avoid: stereotyping, the halo effect,primacy and recency effects, central tendency, contrast effects, projection, and self­fulfillingperceptual defenses.

E. Describe the Johari window.

12. The Johari window consists of four quadrants: the arena, blindspot, fascade, andunknown. It is an information processing model that distinguishes among information aboutoneself that is either known or unknown to the self or the other in a social interaction. Goodcommunication is most likely to occur when both parties are operating from their arena.

F. Explain attribution theory.15. Attribution theory contends that when people observe others' behavior, they attempt todetermine whether it is internally or externally caused. We look for information aboutconsensus, consistency, and distinctiveness to decide on causation. 16. The self­serving bias occurs when people attribute their success to personal qualitieswhile blaming their failure on external factors. 17. Fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overestimate the influence of personalfactors and underestimate the influence of external factors when judging others' behavior.

G. Understand the relevance of perception and attribution for managers.KNOWLEDGE BASE

­ No individuals perceive stimuli in the exact same fashion.­ Perception (defined) ­ the process by which we select, organize, and evaluate the stimuli in ourenvironment to make it meaningful for ourselves.­ three stages of the perceptual process

1 ­ Selection2 ­ Organization3 ­ Evaluation

1 ­ Selection. (perceptual process stage)­ selective attention (defined) ­ the process of filtering the information our senses receive.­ Both internal and external factors determine what sensory impressions we pay attention to.

­ Internal factors that affect perception aremotives,values,interests,attitudes,past experiences, andexpectations.

­ external factors that influence perception arecharacteristics of the target we perceive.motion,intensity,size,novelty,and salience.

2 ­ Organization. (perceptual process stage)­ Our thought processes automatically structure stimuli into patterns

­ patterns of antithesis (opposites) and­ cause­and­effect relationships

­ Social cognition theory.­ stimuli is organized into schemas.­ Schemas are mental maps of different concepts, events, or types of stimuli thatcontain both the attributes of the concept and the relBUSI2101­Week2­LectureNotesationship among the attributes.

­ e.g. each of us has a schema about "leadership" that includes the traits that wethink describe a good leader. We tend to see these traits as a package deal; ifsomeone has a few of these traits, we assume they also possess the other traits.

­ Once schemas have been estabished, they determine what we notice and remember.Makes it difficult to remember free­floating stimuli than stimuli that fit into existingschemas.

3 ­ Evaluation. (perceptual process stage)­ We interpret stimuli in a subjective rather than objective fashion.­ conclusions are biased by our individual attitudes, needs, experiences, expectations, goals,values, and physical condition at the time. ­ the same person can have diverse perceptions of the same stimuli at different points intime.

SOCIAL IDENTITY­ no two people perceive the world exactly the same, but social groups and cultures have sharedperception.­ group identification determines the world is viewed because it teaches you to pay attention to thesame stimuli.­ social identity theory is based on the belief that people tend

(1) to perceive themselves and others in terms of social categories rather than as individuals(social categorization);(2) to assess the relative worth of groups as well as individuals by comparing them (socialcomparison); and(3) to perceive and respond to the world not as detached observers but in terms of theiridentity, which depends on the social groups to which they belong (social identification).

­ people perceive themselves as similar along important dimensions (such as similar disposition,similar attitudes) and define themselves in terms of the groups in which they are members.­ the downside of social identity is that when humans categorize others into groups, they tend toperceive other social groups as inferior.

STEREOTYPING­ Stereotyping occurs when we attribute behavior or attitudes to a person on the basis of the groupto which the person belongs.­ stereotypes are based on relatively little information, resistant to change, and rarely accuratelyapplied to specific individuals.­ perception is extremely useful. It allows us to make sense of a world full of stimuli in three ways:

1 ­ limiting the amount of information that enters our mind to prevent overload;2 ­ selecting what input we will attend to; and,3 ­ organizing and classifying the input we receive so not to waste time making sense ofsimilar behavior and situations.

IMPACT OF PERCEPTION IN THE WORKPLACE ­ Managers and employees must deal with misperceptions, no matter how ridiculous they seem.PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS

­ the "halo effect," occurs when our evaluation of others is dominated by only one of their traits.­ The primacy effect means one's perception is dominated by the first impression of anotherperson.­ The recency effect is when one's perception is overly dominated by the most recent interactionswith a person.­ Central tendency is a perceptual distortion that occurs when a person avoids extremejudgments and rates everything as average.­ Contrast effects are present when our evaluations are affected by comparisons with otherpeople we have recently encountered who are either better or worse in terms of this characteristic.­ Projection is the tendency to attribute one's personal attitudes or feelings to another person,thereby relieving one's own sense of guilt or failure.­ perceptual defense. These defenses act as a screen blocking out that which we do not want tosee and letting through that which we wish to see.

THE JOHARI WINDOW­ The Johari Window is an information processing model that consists of four regions determinedby whether information about oneself is known or unknown to oneself and others.

­ When a person's arena is very small, communication is greatly hindered.­ Arena ­ This cell includes information that I and others know about me­ Facade ­ This cell contains information that I know about myself but hide from others.­ Blindspot ­ This cell consists of information or characteristics that people perceive in me but thatI do not see in myself.­ Unknown ­ This cell is made up of information and characteristics that neither I nor others know.

CULTURAL INFLUENCE ON PERCEPTION ­ Adler has identified three sources of misinterpretation in cross­cultural interaction:

1 ­ Subconscious cultural blinders. We use our own cultural assumptions to interpret theevents and behavior of a foreign culture.2 ­ Lack of cultural awareness. We are unaware of our cultural values and norms and theway that other cultures perceive us. Without understanding our own culture, we cannot adaptour behavior so that it is perceived more accurately by others.3 ­ Projected similarity. We assume that people from other cultures are more similar to usthan they really are or that situations are similar when they are not. This is based on theethnocentric view that there is only one way to be­like me.

D. I. E. MODEL­ stands for description, interpretation, and evaluation.

­ Description refers to what you see­only observed fact.­ Interpretation refers to inferences, or what you think about what you see.­ Evaluation refers to judgments, what you feel about what you think. Evaluation can bepositive or negative.

ATTRIBUTION ­ when people observe behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externallycaused.

1. Consensus refers to the extent to which others behave in the same manner.2. Consistency is the extent to which the person acts in the same manner at other times.3. Distinctiveness is the extent to which this person behaves in the same manner in other contexts.­ self­serving bias (defined) ­ the tendency or people to attribute their successes to internalfactors while blaming external factors for their failures.­ fundamental attribution error (defined) ­ the tendency to underestimate the influence ofexternal factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about thebehavior of others.