Organizational Behavior, 9/E Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn Prepared by Michael K. McCuddy Valparaiso University John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Chapter 5 Study Questions What is the perception process? What are common perceptual distortions? How can perceptions be managed? What is attribution theory? Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? The process by which people select, organize, interpret, retrieve, and respond to information. People process information inputs into responses involving feeling and action. The quality or accuracy of a person’s perceptions has a major impact on responses. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? Information attention and selection. Selective screening. Lets in only a tiny portion all the information that is available. Two types of selective screening. Controlled processing. Screening without perceiver’s conscious awareness. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? Organization of information. Schemas. Cognitive frameworks that represent organized knowledge about a given concept or stimulus developed through experience. Types of schemas: Self schemas. Person schemas. Script schemas. Person-in-situation schemas. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? Information interpretation. Uncovering the reasons behind the ways stimuli are grouped. People may interpret the same information differently or make different attributions about information. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 1: What is the perception process? Information retrieval. Attention and selection, organization, and interpretation are part of memory. Information stored in memory must be retrieved in order to be used. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 2: What are common perceptual distortions? Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 2: What are common perceptual distortions? Stereotypes or prototypes. Combines information based on the category or class to which a person, situation, or object belongs. Individual differences are obscured. Strong impact at the organization stage. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 2: What are common perceptual distortions? Halo effects. Occur when one attribute of a person or situation is used to develop an overall impression of the individual or situation. Likely to occur in the organization stage. Important in the performance appraisal process. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 2: What are common perceptual distortions? Selective perception. The tendency to single out those aspects of a situation, person, or object that are consistent with one’s needs, values, or attitudes. Strongest impact is at the attention stage. Perception checking with other persons can help counter the adverse impact of selective perception. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 2: What are common perceptual distortions? Projection. The assignment of one’s personal attributes to other individuals. Especially likely to occur in interpretation stage. Projection can be controlled through a high degree of self-awareness and empathy. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 2: What are common perceptual distortions? Contrast effects. Occur when an individual is compared to other people on the same characteristics on which the others rank higher or lower. People must be aware of the impact of contrast effects in many work settings Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 2: What are common perceptual distortions? Self-fulfilling prophecy. The tendency to create or find in another situation or individual that which one expected to find. Also called the “Pygmalion effect.” Can have either positive or negative outcomes. Managers should adopt positive and optimistic approaches to people at work. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 3: How can perceptions be managed? Impression management. A person’s systematic attempt to behave in ways that create and maintain desired impressions in others’ eyes. Successful managers: Use impression management to enhance their own images. Are sensitive to other people’s use of impression management. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 3: How can perceptions be managed? Distortion management. Managers should: Balance automatic and controlled information processing at the attention and selection stage. Broaden their schemas at the organizing stage. Be attuned to attributions at the interpretation stage. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 4:What is attribution theory? Attribution theory aids in perceptual interpretation by focusing on how people attempt to: Understand the causes of a certain event. Assess responsibility for the outcomes of the event. Evaluate the personal qualities of the people involved in the event. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 4:What is attribution theory? Factors influencing internal and external attributions. Distinctiveness — consistency of a person’s behavior across situations. Consensus — likelihood of others responding in a similar way. Consistency — whether an individual responds the same way across time. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 4:What is attribution theory? Fundamental attribution error. Applies to the evaluation of someone’s else behavior. Attributing success to the influence of situational factors. Attributing failure to the influence of personal factors. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 4:What is attribution theory? Self-serving bias. Applies to the evaluation of our own behavior. Attributing success to the influence of personal factors. Attributing failure to the influence of situational factors. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Study Question 4:What is attribution theory? Techniques for effectively managing perceptions and attributions. Be self-aware. Seek a wide range of differing information. Try to see a situation as others would. Be aware of different kinds of schemas. Be aware of perceptual distortions. Be aware of self and impression management. Be aware of attribution theory implications. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5 COPYRIGHT Copyright 2005 © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted in Section 117 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the express written permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Request for further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The purchaser may make back-up copies for his/her own use only and not for distribution or resale. The Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages, caused by the use of these programs or from the use of the information contained herein. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5