© 2008The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Perception and Attributions Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin

7-2 Ch. 7 Learning Objectives 1.Describe perception in terms of the information- processing model. 2.Identify and briefly explain seven managerial implications of social perception. 3.Discuss stereotypes and the process of stereotype formation. 4.Summarize the managerial challenges and recommendations of sex-role, age, racial and ethnic, and disability stereotypes.

Ch. 7 Learning Objectives 5.Describe and contrast the Pygmalion effect, the Galatea Effect, and the Golem Effect. 6.Discuss how the self-fulfilling prophecy is created and how it can be used to improve individual and group productivity. 7.Explain, according to Kelley’s model, how external and internal causal attributions are formulated. 8.Contrast the fundamental attribution bias and the self-serving bias. 7-3

Perception The process of interpreting one’s environment Social perception involves observing and interpreting information about others to be able to understand them and prepare our responses to them. 7-4

Perception: An Information Processing Model Competing environmental stimuli  People  Events  Objects Interpretation and categorization Stage 1 Selective Attention/Comprehension Stage 2 Encoding and Simplification Stage 3 Storage and Retention Stage 4 Retrieval and Response Memory Judgments and decisions ABCDEFABCDEF ACFACF C 7-5

Test Your Knowledge How are hiring decisions and performance evaluations affected by one’s perceptual process? Based on social perception research, which of the following would NOT be advised? a.Use mostly subjective measures of performance. b.Be aware of actions that could be perceived as unfair. c.Train interviewers and managers on how best to objectively evaluate others. 7-6

Test Your Knowledge Jamie is a brand-new salesperson who has just graduated from college. Her first task is to sell consulting services to a new potential client. Based on your knowledge of social perception, which of the following would NOT be advised? a.Check her cell phone to show that she is busy and important b.Convey a positive attitude c.Dress professionally 7-7

Stereotypes Stereotype is an individual’s set of beliefs about the characteristics of a group of people What are some commonly held stereotypes? 7-8

Stereotyping: A Mental Shortcut 1)Begins by categorizing people into groups 2)Infer that all people in a category possess similar traits or characteristics 3)Form expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to stereotypes 4)Stereotypes are maintained by 1)Overestimating the frequency of stereotypic behaviors exhibited by others 2)Incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors 3)Differentiating minority individuals from oneself 7-9

Characteristics of Stereotypes Their nature is not always negative Women are nurturing Asians are smart Based on generalizations (often inaccurate) Older workers are more accident prone Disabled workers cost a lot of money to accommodate Women are more emotional Can lead to poor decisions and discrimination 7-10

Test Your Knowledge Under what conditions would the use of stereotypes be less likely? 1.(A) Have more knowledge or (B) Have less knowledge about the individuals you work for or with 2.(A) Encourage similar people to work together or (B) offer opportunities for a diverse set of individuals to gain important job experience 7-11

Perceptual Errors 7-12

Perceptual Errors 7-13

Test Your Knowledge Josie is a hard-working administrative assistant. She has a low attention to detail and sometimes handles customer’s calls unprofessionally. However, Josie never misses a day of work and is always on time. As a result, her manager rates her positively on many aspects of her performance. This is an example of which perceptual error? a.Contrast b.Recency c.Halo d.Leniency e.Central Tendency 7-14

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Pygmalion Effect Someone’s high expectations for another person result in high performance Galatea Effect An individual’s high self-expectations lead to high performance Golem Effect Loss in performance due to low leader expectations 7-15

A Model of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Supervisor expectancy 6 3 Motivation 4 Performance 5 1 Leadership Subordinate self- expectancy

Test Your Knowledge Based on the self-fulfilling prophecy, which of the following would not be advised? a.Instill confidence in your staff b.Identify errors in employee’s performance, no matter how minor, and discuss them frequently c.Treat all new employees as if they have outstanding potential d.Set high performance goals 7-17

Attributions Causal Attributions: Suspected or inferred causes of behavior Andreas has a history of turning in his monthly reports on time and with 100% accuracy. This month Andreas’ reports were accurate but a week late. Why? a.Andreas doesn’t know how to do monthly reports. b.Andreas is lazy. c.The information he needed was not available to meet the deadline. 7-18

Causes of Behavior Internal factors – Personal characteristics that cause behavior (e.g., ability, effort) External factors – Environmental characteristics that cause behavior (e.g., task difficulty, good/bad luck) 7-19

Kelley’s Attribution Model Consensus – Involves the comparison of an individual’s behavior with that of his or her peers Individual Performance People ABCDE Individual Performance ABCDE LowHigh 7-20

Distinctiveness is determined by comparing a person’s behavior on one task with his or her behavior on other tasks. Kelley’s Theory of Attribution Tasks Individual Performance ABCDE Tasks Individual Performance ABCDE Low High 7-21

Consistency is determined by judging if the individual’s performance on a given task is consistent over time. Kelley’s Theory of Attribution Time Individual Performance Time Individual Performance LowHigh 7-22

How Kelley’s Model Works External Attribution High consensus High distinctiveness Low consistency Internal Attribution Low consensus Low distinctiveness High consistency 7-23

Test Your Knowledge Recall Andreas… Andreas has a history of turning in his monthly reports on time and with 100% accuracy. This month Andreas’ reports were accurate but a week late. Which of the following dimensions could we use to make attributions about Andreas? a.Consistency b.Distinctiveness c.Consensus 7-24

Test Your Knowledge Nadia’s performance is declining. Her peers performance hasn’t changed, it is occurring on several tasks, and has occurred for the past six months. This represents: 1.High (A) or Low (B) consensus 2.High (A) or Low (B) distinctiveness 3.High (A) or Low (B) consistency 4.The attribution her supervisor is likely to make is… a.Internal b.External 7-25

Attributional Tendencies Fundamental Attribution Bias ignoring environmental factors that affect behavior Your performance is caused by you Self-Serving Bias taking more personal responsibility for success than failure My success is because of my effort/ability My poor performance is caused by something else (difficulty; bad luck) 7-26

Test Your Knowledge: Overcoming Biases For each of these tips, identify which perceptual error is being prevented Do not overlook the external causes of others’ behaviors Identify and confront your stereotypes Evaluate people based on objective factors Avoid making rash judgments 7-27

© 2008The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Perception and Attributions Supplemental Slides

Dress the Part Even the most objective interview process can be influenced by one’s appearance Board of directors have admitted evaluating CEO candidate’s clothes when determining who should get the job Female politicians, in particular, have to be careful because the while a smart style may not win votes, a wrong style can lose them Binkley, C. Wall Street Journal, Summer/Fall

Dress the Part (con’t) In what other ways could personal appearance affect people in the workplace? In what situations do you consider the perceptions caused by your clothing and appearance? How might the organizational culture affect norms of dress and associated perceptions? Binkley, C. Wall Street Journal, Summer/Fall

Dress the Part (con’t) Tips: Iron your shirts Men should wear no more than three accessories (i.e., belt, wedding band, watch) Dress for the position you want, not for the one you currently have Match the culture of the industry The darker the color of women’s suits the more likely to be perceived as intimidating – choose carefully Binkley, C. Wall Street Journal, Summer/Fall

Perception Lessons for Retail Customers become overloaded with too many choices Narrow the field with signs such as “Our Best Seller”, “Our Best Student Computer” The entrance of a store is the decompression zone Greet customers after they’ve been in the store at least a minute for a better response Don’t put signs right at the front of the store, customers use this space as a decompression zone and won’t focus on them Make signs meaningful to shoppers Provide a fast fact – limit words on sign to 30 Point out an appealing characteristic (e.g., “cute baby bananas”) Source: BusinessWeek, 2/9/

What is the Procedure? In the first part of the procedure you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. After the procedure is completed, you arrange the materials into different groups again and put them in their appropriate places. Once used again, the whole cycle will have to be repeated. Source: Bransford, J.D., & Johnson, M.K. (1972). Contextual Prerequisite for Understanding: Some Investigations of Comprehension and Recall, Journal of Memory and Language, December, p

Video Cases Gender Pay Gap Wal-Mart Faces Discrimination Lawsuit 7-34

Break the Typecast Workplace reputations can be formed based on superficial information Avoid being typecasted by: Recognizing you are – pay attention to comments made about you, solicit feedback Watch a videotape of yourself in a work situation Evaluate your image – adjust your appearance/wardrobe Source: The Jungle, Erin White, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28,

Unconscious Bias William Bielby, Sociologist is hired by plaintiffs in many class action cases to argue: that white men will inevitably slight women and minorities because they can’t control it – it’s unconscious organizations who give too much discretion to managers on employment-related decisions and rely on subjective judgments is the problem Critics argue this is true when dealing with strangers but not employees you know and work with Source: The Jungle, Erin White, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28,

Crash What concepts that we have just discussed were present in this scene? Waitress’s perspective Customer’s (Ludacris’s) perspective Other reference to black women 7-37

How do gender stereotypes affect work- related decisions? Stereotype: Assume there is a generally held stereotype that women are more interpersonally savvy Women 7 on 9-point scale Men 5 on 9-point scale Scenario: Male applicant for COO job is perceived to be a 5 on a 9-point scale Female applicant is perceived to be a 6 on a 9-point scale. Who is perceived to be more qualified on that dimension? 7-38

Obesity Bias Studies have shown that even therapists may display biases against their overweight patients Using terms like “lazy”, “stupid”, “worthless” to describe obese people they come in contact with. What impact would this bias have on therapists trying to help obese patients? 7-39

Positive Contributory Value of Older Workers Myth #1: Older workers are not top learners. Myth #2: Older workers are not top performers How to retain older worker human capital Flexibility in HR policies Attitude Change Knowledge Transfer Programs 7-40

How do gender stereotypes affect work- related decisions? Stereotype: Women are more interpersonally savvy Women 7 on 9-point scale Men 5 on 9-point scale Scenario: Male applicant for COO job is perceived to be a 5 on a 9- point scale Female applicant is perceived to be a 6 on a 9-point scale. Who is perceived to be more qualified on that dimension? 7-41

Women in Gender-Typed Jobs Bias against women often results in their competence being denied. But what happens when their competence is acknowledged? Recent research suggests that successful women in male gender-typed jobs are less liked, personally derogated This social rejection affects promotions, raises, and other rewards. 7-42

Female Stereotypes Emotional90% Affectionate86% Talkative78% Patient72% Creative65% Easygoing38% Intelligent36% Ambitious33% Courageous27% Aggressive20% 7-43

Male Stereotypes Aggressive68% Courageous50% Easygoing45% Ambitious44% Intelligent21% Patient19% Creative15% Talkative10% Affectionate5% Emotional3% 7-44

Employment Statistics: People with Disabilities 7-45

Barriers to Employment or Advancement of People with Disabilities Lack of Experience51% Lack of requisite skills and training40% Supervisor knowledge of accommodation31% Attitudes or stereotypes22% Cost of accommodations16% Cost of supervision12% Cost of training10% 7-46

Conclusion Questions for discussion 7-47