Organizational Behaviour Canadian Edition Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Prepared by: Joan Condie

Perception and Attribution Chapter 5 Perception and Attribution

Questions What is the perceptual process? What are some common perceptual distortions? How can the perceptual process be managed? What is attribution theory? Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

The Perceptual Process Perception = the process through which people receive, organize, and interpret information from their environment Perception is not the same as reality Yet perception is the basis of feelings and actions; the quality and accuracy of a person’s perception influence responses to a specific situation Differences in perception of same thing can create difficulties E.g., evidence that what is discussed and how well things are discussed in performance appraisals is perceived differently by managers and subordinates Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Factors Influencing the Perceptual Process Perceiver Perception influenced by person’s values, attitudes, past experiences, needs, personality Setting Physical context, social context, organizational context Perceived Target’s contrast, intensity, figure-ground separation, size, motion, repetition, novelty Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Stages of Perceptual Process Attention and selection Constant bombardment with sensory information is handled by screening the info, both consciously & unconsciously, for what is important Organization Use schemas or cognitive frameworks to organize incoming information E.g., we use our person schemas to organize info about other people into prototypes (an abstract set of features common to all members of a group) E.g., script schema defines what one sees as the appropriate sequence of events in a situation Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Stages of Perceptual Process Interpretation Personal reasoning as to why something is the way it is Retrieval Ease of access to memories; influenced by prototypes Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Common Perceptual Distortions Stereotypes or prototypes Halo effects Selective perception Projection Self-fulfilling prophecies Contrasts Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Stereotypes or Prototypes Prototype can be a useful way of organizing information to deal with overload but can hide individual differences (hence stereotyping), and cause problems in accurate retrieval of information E.g., study shows the perception that female directors only suited to peripheral committee work whereas male directors seen as belonging on major decision-making committees, even when experience is equal Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Halo Effects Halo effect = one attribute of a person or situation is used to develop an overall impression of that individual or situation Happens at organizing stage of perception Common – e.g., when we meet a new person who smiles at us, we have immediate first impression that the person is friendly Can create distortion in performance appraisals, e.g., good attendance = intelligent, responsible Need to ensure appraisal based on facts, not biased impressions Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Selective Perception Selective perception = tendency to notice those aspects of a person or situation that are consistent with or reinforce the perceiver’s existing attitudes, beliefs or needs Influences attention stage – what we notice Most easily overcome by gathering perceptual info from others to see if one has only picked up on part of the picture Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Projection Projection = assigning one’s personal attributes to another individual Happens at interpreting stage of perception E.g., when manager assumes subordinate reacts to a work opportunity the same way as the manager Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Projection Controlled through: self-awareness (realizing one’s own needs) and strong empathy (being able to put oneself in the other’s position and understand their perspective) Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Self-fulfilling prophecy = the tendency to create or find in a situation or individual what one expects to find Because one believes something, one acts in a way that makes the outcome more likely Negative example: assume individual has no ambition so gives no challenging work; individual is bored and does not work well, confirming manager’s initial belief Positive example: believe exceptional potential in employee so give challenge, support, praise; employee thrives in this attention and support, performing well, thus confirming manager’s expectations Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (cont’d) Self-fulfilling prophecy = the tendency to create or find in a situation or individual what one expects to find Suggests one should adopt optimistic approach as it may trigger behaviour that brings out the best in others Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Contrast Effects Contrast effect = when an individual’s characteristics are contrasted with those of people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on those characteristics Person in job interview appears stronger when immediately following a weak candidate Awareness of potential distortion from contrast effect needed Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Managing the Perceptual Process Impression Management People often systematically attempt to behave in ways that will create and maintain impressions which the person wants others to have of him or her E.g., clothing, handshake, resume preparation for a job interview E.g., associating with “right” people, doing favours to gain approval, agreeing with others Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Managing the Perceptual Process Distortion Management Gather representative information, make observations, look for disconfirming information in order to maximize accuracy of perception Helpful to be aware of distortion potential Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Attribution Theory Attribution = one’s explanation of why something happened Attribution theory = attempt to understand how people make attributions, why they assign certain causes Causation can be assigned to either: internal causes (under the control of the person) or external causes (outside the person) Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Attribution Theory Attribution theory suggests we determine which of these two (internal or external causation) is more likely through examination of: Distinctiveness – consistency of behaviour in different situations Consensus – how others in same situation responded Consistency – consistency of person’s behaviour over time Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Attribution Errors Fundamental attribution error The tendency to underestimate the influence of internal factors and overestimate the influence of personal factors in evaluating another person’s behaviour (NOT one’s own) E.g., supervisor assuming poor performance in subordinate is due to lack of effort and ability without examining possible external contributors (such as problems with machinery, lack of support) Suggests we may lose opportunities to correct situational problems because we don’t see their influence Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Attribution Errors Self-serving bias The tendency to deny personal responsibility for performance problems (blame external factors) but to accept personal responsibility for performance success (credit internal factors) E.g., the same supervisors who jumped to blame employees for performance problems explain their own difficulties by referring to situational factors Suggests we often may not learn from our mistakes, because we are reluctant to admit error Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Attributions across Cultures Important differences noted E.g., self-serving bias works in opposite way in Korea: managers attributed workgroup failures to themselves E.g., in India, fundamental attribution error is different in that there was a tendency to overemphasize external causes for failure Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

Attributions across Cultures Important differences noted E.g., some evidence that in Canada and US, women are less likely to engage in self-serving bias than men North American tendency to overemphasize internal causes and underemphasize external causes may lead to more negative attributions of employee behaviour, harsher evaluations and focus on changing the individual (e.g., through training) rather than correcting situational issues Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, Currie Organizational Behaviour, Canadian Edition Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.

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