THE FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

Summary of lecture Perception in Organization Personality

What is perception? Perception is important in the study of organizational behavior (OB) simply because people’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is and not on reality itself.

definition Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. However, what we perceive can be substantially different from objective reality. We often disagree about what is real

Factors influencing perception A number of factors affect perception these can be found in the: Perceiver – An individual looking at something. Target – The object being looked at. Situation – Context in which the perception is made.

The perceiver When an individual (“the perceiver”) looks at something (“the target”) and tries to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is heavily influenced by the perceiver’s personal characteristics. Have you ever bought a new laptop model and then suddenly noticed a large number of students owning laptops like yours? It’s unlikely that everyone else has suddenly bought the same model. Rather, your own purchase has influenced your perception so that you are now more likely to notice people with similar laptops.

The target A target’s characteristics can affect what is perceived. Loud people are more likely to be noticed in a group than are quiet ones. So, too, are extremely attractive or unattractive individuals. Novelty, motion, sound, size, and other attributes of a target shape the way we see it. Because targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background influences perception. Employees in a particular department are seen as a group. If two people in a four-member department suddenly resign, we tend to assume that their departures were related. Persons, objects, or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped together.

The situation The context in which we see objects or events is important. Elements in the surrounding environment influence our perceptions. For example, wearing mini skirts for ladies and tight shorts for men is acceptable during lectures at the university but may not be acceptable at church during services. Therefore, your interpretation of the same clothes will vary with the context. Similarly, you are more likely to notice disorganized offices of your employees when the permanent secretary visits your premises for inspection.

Perception and attribution theory People can be mistaken in their perception since its difficult to perceive and interpret what others do. Some of the errors that distort the perception process include attribution theory, selective perception, the halo effect, contrast effects, projection, and stereotyping.

Attribution theory Attribution theory explains how we judge people differently, depending on the cause we attribute to a given behavior. The theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behaviour, we try to determine whether the individual is responsible for the behaviour (the cause is internal), or whether something outside the individual caused the behaviour (the cause is external). We use attribution theory to explain the why people behaved the way they did. To determine whether behaviour is internally or externally caused attribution theory relies on three rules. Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency

distinctiveness A behavioral rule that asks whether an individual acts similarly across a variety of situations.

Consensus A behavioral rule that asks if everyone faced with a similar situation responds in the same way.

Consistency A behavioral rule that asks whether the individual has been acting in the same way over time.

personality

What is personality When psychologists talk of personality, they mean a dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person’s whole psychological system. Rather than looking at parts of the person, personality looks at the whole person. For our purposes personality is defined as the stable patterns of behaviour and consistent internal states that determine how an individual reacts to and interacts with others. It is most often described in terms of measurable traits that a person exhibits.

Sources of personality Nature versus Nurturing - An early argument in personality research centered on whether an individual’s personality was predetermined at birth, or the result of the individual’s interaction with his or her environment. Personality is now generally considered to be made up of both nature and nurture plus the situational condition.

Nature = heredity This refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical stature, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are generally considered to be either completely or largely influenced by your parents’ biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup.

Nurture = environmental factors This refers to culture in which we are raised; our early conditioning; the norms among our family, friends, and social groups; and other influences that we experience.

Situational conditions The demands of different situations call forth different aspects of an individual’s personality. We should not, therefore, look at personality patterns in isolation.

Personality Traits The early work in the structure of personality revolved around attempts to identify and label enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behaviour. Popular characteristics include shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal, and timid. Those characteristics, when they are exhibited in a large number of situations, are called personality traits.

Frameworks for determining personality traits Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The Big Five model.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI Personality is classified along the following dimensions: Extraversion/Introversion (E or I). This dimension refers to how people focus themselves: inside (introversion) or outside (extraversion). Sensing/Intuiting (S or N). This dimension refers to how people gather information: very systematically (sensing) or relying on intuition (intuiting). Thinking/Feeling (T or F). This dimension refers to how people prefer to make decisions: objectively and impersonally (thinking) or subjectively and interpersonally (feeling).

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI Judging/Perceiving (J or P). This dimension refers to how people order their daily lives: being decisive and planned (judging) or spontaneous and flexible (perceiving).

Examples of MBTI Personality Types INTJs are visionaries. They usually have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. They are characterized as sceptical, critical, independent, determined, and often stubborn. ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for business or mechanics. They like to organize and run activities. ENTPs are conceptualizers. They are innovative, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to entrepreneurial ideas. They tend to be resourceful in solving challenging problems but may neglect routine assignments.

The Big Five Model The Big Five personality factors are as follows: Extraversion. This dimension captures a person’s comfort level with relationships. Extraverted individuals are sociable, talkative, and assertive. Agreeableness. This dimension refers to how readily a person will go along with others. Highly agreeable people are good-natured, cooperative, warm and trusting. Conscientiousness. This dimension is a measure of a person’s reliability. People who score high on conscientiousness are responsible, dependable, persistent, and achievement-oriented.

The Big Five Model Cont’d Emotional stability. This dimension taps a person’s ability to withstand stress. People high on emotional stability are calm, self-confident, and secure. Openness to experience. The final dimension addresses a person’s range of interests and fascination with novelty. People high on openness to experience are imaginative, artistically sensitive, and intellectual.

Big Five Personality Factors